Gluten Free Nation
Posted by Kirill Storch on 2/1/2011
to
Chestnuts
The age of gluten free foods is upon us. General Mills has converted Chex to gluten free, and Anheuser-Busch (which makes Budweiser) just launched its first gluten free beer. In a way, we at Girolami Farms are sitting back and saying “it’s about time,” as our chestnuts were the original, gluten-free food- dating all the way back to the first Thanksgiving.
Yet we applaud efforts by McCormick (the spice giant) and Simply Asia foods to go gluten free.
The reason this is such a renaissance in gluten freedom is that people are realizing a lot of negative health problems are linked to this tricky protein.
Not just allergies, but digestive problems, constipation, and even issues of personality and concentration are all indicated.
The supermarkets too are riding the gluten free wave, offering tons of private label items and entire gluten free sections.
Even Uncle Sam is lending a hand with new regulatory clarity that helps consumers know what is truly gluten free.
THE NEW GLUTEN FREE BUDWEISER
Although our chestnuts can be used for a great many things (bread, pasta, snacks, candy) one thing we have yet to see is a good gluten free beer. This honor definitively belongs with Redbridge, the subsidiary of Budweiser that launched a gluten free line last year. They even worked with the national foundation for Celiac awareness to create this wonder. The idea is that the beer was brewed with traditional African techniques and contained Sorghum.
WHOLE FOODS
As usual, we look to Whole Foods to lead the fight to health. They opened up a gluten free bakery two years ago which actually utilizes chestnut flour. They led the trend, and now Safeway and Albertson’s have followed suit.
WEGMANS
Wegmans operates in about 30 states and is not well known on the West Coast. But they pioneered a mandatory gluten free label on each gluten free product. They were the first to do this on a chain-wide basis.
In short, all this gluten free goodness means only good for an America that is ridden with health concerns. Hopefully we will see a great increase in personal wellness in the next 10 years.
And if you need any help with gluten free recipes, contact us!
