Be Free For Me Blog

Last Wednesday, April 7th, must have been gluten-free / food allergy day for the Boston Globe.

In this daily issue there were two articles on gluten-free and food-allergic living. I was both shocked and thrilled to find them both!

The articles touched upon how the educational sector and big businesses are realizing the need to adapt their strategies in order to assist those with food allergies, gluten-intolerances or celiac disease.

The first article details the ways that colleges are responding to the challenge of students with food allergies or celiac disease.  I was diagnosed with celiac disease after graduating from college, but I have to imagine that the college years must be the hardest for anyone being on a restricted diet. However, this article explains how colleges are assisting students with food intolerances. Some ways that colleges are catering to these students include supplying small kitchenettes stocked-full of convenient gluten and allergen-free meals, as well as having chefs and dieticians assist these students with meal planning and preparation.

The article is interesting, especially for those involved in applying for and making college enrollment decisions.

The second article was the about the new gluten-free baking mixes and flours that Norwich, Vermont based King Arthur Flour has introduced. This interesting article details how King Arthur developed their gluten-free product line (which includes multipurpose flour, cake, brownie, pizza crust and cookie mixes) “basically by trial and error”. The article also states that the King Arthur test kitchen is working on developing a higher fiber gluten-free product in the near future. Something I am looking forward to trying.

Do you often find articles on celiac disease and food allergies in your local newspaper? If so, please share any articles that you find by commenting below and including a link to the article. We all love reading new and interesting articles… so let’s keep sharing!

It looks as if America’s oldest flour company is learning some new tricks: Gluten-free flours and mixes.

King Arthur Flour, founded more than 200 years ago and known for their premium baking flours and mixes will introduce their new gluten-free products today, March 1, 2010 on the King Arthur website and soon in supermarkets across the country.

The King Arthur gluten-free line consists of: Gluten-free Multi-Purpose Flour (I can’t wait to try it in some of my favorite recipes!), along with convenient mixes for gluten-free bread, pizza crust, cookies, brownies, chocolate cake, muffins, and pancakes. 

Best yet, all of their gluten-free products will be made in a dedicated allergen-free facility and guaranteed to be free of the top eight allergens. Their products are also third-party certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization, whose standards are twice as stringent as those set by the FDA.

I am really excited about King Arthur launching these new gluten-free products since their company is known for consistency in products, educating consumers in using their baking products and for being a resource of useful information, including recipes.

I’m looking forward to King Arthur, a classic in baking legend, teaching me some new baking tricks too!