First and foremost: News on the Celiac Disease Vaccine Front
There have been many articles released this week about the results of the most recent Celiac Disease Vaccine. It seems like there have been some helpful results for participants with little to no side effects recorded thus far. Triumph Dining had one article in which this progress it mentioned. The article states: “Anderson estimates that if the trials continue satisfactorily, the vaccine could help 90% of celiacs with the disease’s DQ2 genetic form. It could also be used as an alternate means of diagnosis, since it would trigger a negative response in any celiac patient if given in a large enough dose.”
California Pizza Kitchen Switches things up with a Healthier Menu (Plus more GF items)
It was recently announced that California Pizza Kitchen will be adding gluten free crusts to their menu. Their current gluten free menu contains no pizza potions, which is sad, so this move may be great for opening up more options for gluten free patrons. The only concern I have is their cross contamination warning, it would be great if they could get a dedicated stove or some other procedures in place that would fully ensure a healthy meal for their gluten free patrons. Perhaps they should partner up with GIG or some other agency for Gluten free training.
The name we’ll need to remember in the face of gluten free enzyme research
A taste of gluten free dining in New Jersey
Many Celiac’s feel they cannot eat out, this is far from the truth. This article touches on a few chain eateries, however it’s focus is on New Jersey. I always find it interesting the reasons behind a mom and pop restaurant going gluten free or offering a gluten free menu. Make sure to ask when you go out and I am sure you will get some interesting answers!
Frito-Lay Beings Gluten Testing and Gluten Free Labeling
Finally, I received and email about Frito-Lay’s new gluten/gluten free initiative. I can honestly say that I love chips! They will be testing all of their products and will be labeling as gluten free moving forward if they meet the criteria. See the below email for information:
Frito-Lay is using an analytical test called R-Biopharm RIDASCREEN Gliaden/Gluten to validate the products that contain less than 20 ppm of gluten, the level put forward by the FDA Proposed Rule on Gluten Free Labeling. We chose this sandwich enzyme immunoassay test because it is recommended by the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) and has been Performance Tested by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) Research Institute.
Since many of our chips are made from simple ingredients like corn or potatoes, they have always been made without gluten naturally. We are not removing gluten from our products, rather, we are testing that the products fall within determined gluten levels based on their recipe. Our consumers with Celiac Disease and other gluten intolerances have told us that it is helpful when they shop to have the words “gluten free” on the packaging. So we are starting to add a “gluten free” claim to our bags, where appropriate. The claim on packaging can appear in the form of a “GF” icon and/or a statement on the back of the bag, depending on brand and bag size.
As of May 4, the products we have been qualified are: Lay’s Classic, Lay’s Lightly Salted, and Lay’s Deli Style, Lay’s Wavy Original, RufflesOriginal and Ruffles Reduced Fat, Baked! Lay’s, Baked! Tostitos Scoops!, Tostitos Scoops! , Tostitos Crispy Rounds, Lay’s Stax – all flavors – and Fritos Original, Fritos Scoops! and Fritos Lightly Salted. Changes to our packaging can take some time, so there may be a gap between when the products have been qualified and when the claim is added to packaging. Our website www.fritolay.com will be the most up-to-date resource to identify products qualified as “gluten free.”
Frito-Lay has a “G-Free Resource Team” made up of employees who are gluten intolerant or have family and friends who are. They reviewed our plans to ensure we thought through all details and recommended we should reach out to you with this announcement because they consider you a valuable gluten free resource. We are not formally announcing this to the media right now, as we still have many more products to test and packaging updates to make, but we wanted to make you aware of the initiative and give you all the facts as we begin this program.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this program, please contact us at nutrition@pepsico.com.