A major national baker is now producing a new line of gluten-free baked goods. Weston Bakeries has launched the All But Gluten line, which includes bread, focaccio, muffins, brownies, macaroons and pizza shells.
The line is produced in a gluten-free facility and bears the CCA GCFP certification. All But Gluten products are available locally at Walmart stores.
Another “quick service” hamburger restaurant is offering documented gluten-friendly options. We were recently made aware of a page on Wendy’s website entitled, Canadian Menu Items Without Gluten. These items include burger patties, sides, salads and desserts*. Isn’t it nice to have more and more options on the road?
*As always, read documentation completely and speak with your local food service manager to satisfy yourself that your dietary needs can be met.
Twenty years in the making, Canada’s new Allergen and Gluten labelling regulations finally came into full force on August 4, 2012.
The new rules apply to priority allergens in foods known to cause 90 per cent of reactions:
- Wheat
- Glutens (oats, barley and rye)
- Peanuts
- Eggs
- Milk
- Tree nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts)
- Soy
- Sesame seeds
- Seafood (fish, crustaceans and shellfish)
- Sulphites
- Mustard seed
The rules will require a listing of allergens in smaller components of the product. For example, if a product includes “spices,” the label must list any allergens, glutens or sulphites contained in the spices.
How is this going to change your grocery shopping experience? The CCA has created some resources to help to get you up to speed. Click here to check them out.
This posting is open for comments.
It is now official!
Below is a link to the long-awaited guidance document to industry on gluten-free claims by Health Canada.
A very quick summary notes that products that do not exceed 20 ppm, and manufactured under ‘Good Manufacturing Practices’, are deemed to meet the intent of B.24.018 when a gluten-free claim is made.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/cel-coe/gluten-position-eng.php
This link will be posted on the CCA websites. We will also be taking efforts to inform the industry and consumer/patient groups.
Jim McCarthy,
Advisor, Canadian Celiac Association
Press Release
Gluten intolerance, an umbrella term that includes gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, doesn’t just affect the digestive system: it is linked to more than 300 diseases and conditions. Among the most common are those stemming from deficiencies, excesses and imbalances of female hormones. In fact, there’s a good chance that correct diagnosis and treatment of gluten intolerance may be all that’s needed to resolve hormone-related medical problems.
Dr Vikki Petersen D.C., C.C.N.What is the link between gluten intolerance and hormones? ”Gluten intolerance has many secondary effects, including adrenal fatigue,” according to Dr. Vikki Petersen, Certified Clinical Nutritionist, author of the book “The Gluten Effect” and co-founder of HealthNOW Medical Center. “The adrenals are responsible for maintaining a proper balance between DHEA, estrogen, testosterone and progesterone, which prevents conditions such as PMS and infertility. But these hormones are also responsible for a number of other, more basic, functions like regulating blood pressure and blood glucose levels and preventing dehydration.”
“When the adrenals are fatigued, as they often are when one is gluten intolerant, they can’t function fully and optimally. They have to choose between producing sex hormones or just keeping the body up and running,” she said.
Invariably, the functions that relate to basic survival are the priority and the production or regulation of the sex hormones suffers.
According to Dr. Petersen, the results can include such common conditions as:
– cramping
– heavy bleeding
– menstrual irregularity
– endometriosis
– polycystic ovaries
– fibrocystic breasts
– migraines
– PMS
– infertility
– miscarriage
“The link between adrenal stress and gluten intolerance is common, but rarely diagnosed,” said Dr. Petersen. “As a result, millions of women are suffering unnecessarily from conditions that really affect their quality of life but are easily remedied.”
HealthNOW is a medical clinic in Sunnyvale, California that combines internal medicine, clinical nutrition, naturopathy, physical therapy and chiropractic. The team of doctors from these disciplines work together to resolve patients’ unique health problems and conditions.
