Great Specialty Products Bakery Closes After Gluten Is Found In Gluten-Free Bread

I realized today when I was at my local GIG potluck/meeting that while I see a lot of #GF headlines, etc., (sorry, couldn’t resist inserting a Twitter hashtag… but more on this in another post) from around the country and beyond, there are a lot of folks that do not hear about stories such as this, unless they happen to live where it happens. I really encourage everyone who is gluten-free to sign-up for a free Twitter account (you do not need a cell phone). There is an amazing gluten-free community on Twitter that has become not only a great resource to me as far as “real-time,” up-to date celiac disease information but I also get first hand knowledge of new gluten-free products before they hit the shelves and awareness of stories such as the one that follows. I have also made some wonderful friends who truly understand what I go through everyday… think of it like a virtual support group! 😉

I believe awareness can be a very effective learning tool for all of us in the gluten-free community…

The following is a link to a Raleigh, NC news story about a bakery; Great Specialty Grains, whose “gluten-free” bread was tested and found to contain 5,000 ppm of gluten. 5,000! Quite a difference to the FDA’s proposed standard for the definition of gluten-free: less than 20 ppm. Click here to go to the article and local news video.

The person who this happened to, or rather her son, is another gluten-free blogger, and a *virtual* friend of mine; Rebecca. When I first read her story, it literally made me itch (but I won’t go “there”). Rebecca could not have said it better in her blog post titled, “Every Celiac’s Nightmare.” I encourage you to read all the comments in response to her post too.

Here is an update on the story from Rebecca’s blog (which is called, “The GFCF Cookbook“): Vindication. While you are on her site, check out Rebecca’s recipe for Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Whoopie Pies!

More information on the FDA’s proposed definition for the term gluten-free.