PRODUCT RECALL

Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt (6 oz cups)

Stonyfield Farms (which has had many of its products certified as gluten-free) is voluntarily recalling 6 oz cups of its Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt.

Londonderry, NH - March 28, 2008 - Organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm is voluntarily recalling Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Blueberry Yogurt, packaged in 6 oz cups, carrying product codes printed along the cup bottom that start with the following dates:

Apr 13 08

Apr 14 08

Apr 15 08

April 25 08

Apr 26 08

The recall comes in response to consumer complaints reporting tiny beads the size of mustard seeds in these particular batches of fat free blueberry yogurt. There have been no reports of injury. People who bite into or swallow these pieces could possibly be injured, prompting this precautionary recall. Although the company believes the problem is not widespread, we are taking this measure to ensure the safety of our consumers.

Stonyfield Farm is advising our distribution network to immediately remove these specific code-dates of 6-ounce fat free blueberry yogurt from retail shelves. The yogurts are sold at natural food stores and grocery retailers nationwide.

Consumers who may have purchased fat free blueberry yogurts with these code dates are asked to return opened and unopened containers to their retailers. You will be reimbursed for the full value of your purchase.

Click here for more information.

RESTAURANT INSPECTION!

And now for the annual round-up of restaurant inspection results from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). The restaurants on this list—New York City eateries on the roster of the Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program (GFRAP)—continue to be way ahead of other Big Apple restaurants in recognizing the health concerns related to gluten in their foods, which still doesn't seem to be a concern of the DOHMH.

The lower the number score, the better the inspection, with a score of 28 or higher constituting a failing grade. Topping the list are Asia de Cuba, Sambuca, and Gus' Place; at the bottom (with the only failing grade) is Outback Steakhouse Brooklyn. Not available at this time is a score for Tuttoriso, on Staten Island.

02 11/21/07 Asia de Cuba (Manhattan)
05 01/18/08 Sambuca (Manhattan)
08 04/24/07 Gus' Place (Manhattan)
09 03/14/07 Outback Steakhouse Queens Boulevard (Queens)
10 03/19/07 Lumi (Manhattan)
10 12/26/07 Risotteria (Manhattan)
11 04/04/07 Lilli and Loo (Manhattan)
13 12/26/06 Bloom's (Manhattan)
13 12/07/06 Outback Steakhouse Bell Blvd. (Queens)
15 01/04/08 Outback Steakhouse Chelsea (Manhattan)
16 01/30/07 Bistango (Manhattan)
16 08/19/07 Candle 79 (Manhattan)
16 07/31/07 Outback Steakhouse (Staten Island)
16 11/14/06 Tini (Lentini) (Manhattan)
17 06/11/07 Peters' (Artaki) (Manhattan)
18 09/27/07 Outback Steakhouse Third Avenue (Manhattan)
21 05/08/07 Carrabba's (Staten Island)
?? --/--/-- Tuttoriso (Staten Island)
80 01/30/08 Outback Steakhouse Brooklyn (Brooklyn)

For the most current DOH inspection records, click here.

GFRAP restaurants can be found here.

TRACE ADKINS: FAAN FUNDRAISER!

Spoiler warning re The Celebrity Apprentice

Last night Donald Trump made the final decision on The Celebrity Apprentice. For a fundraising benefit, Trace raised $38,000 in ticket sales, while Piers Morgan raised $12,000 in ticket sales. But in the auction, Piers raised $376,000 while Trace raised $64,000. Ultimately, evil genius Piers won the competition, but (if I understand how this works) Trace still raised more than $100,000 for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). And currently the popular vote still favors Trace.

To add to the FAAN kitty, you can simply make your own donation and/or buy a 99 cent iTunes live recording of Trace's touching song "You're Gonna Miss This" here.

Here's a timely Trace Adkins video.



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CAN TRACE ADKINS WIN FOR FAAN?

Tonight charismatic country singer Trace Adkins faces off against nasty gossipmonger Piers Morgan for the big prize in the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. Trace Adkins seems to be the more popular player by far, but that might not be enough for him to win for his chosen charity, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).

It'd be great if FAAN had an Adkins victory to celebrate at its Maryland conference this weekend. (In May FAAN will have conferences in Tarrytown, NY as well as Rosemont, IL.)

Here Trace takes on wheat grass—and the Backstreet Boys. (He's got to accommodate the singing group as part of the final challenge.)



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MARCH OF THE PIZZA CRUSTS

As noted here last week, Newsday food writer Erica Marcus had trouble finding a good gluten-free pizza crust. This week she channels advice she received from across the country. The recommendations include this recipe from Gluten Free Mommy.

And now at MSNBC.com, Epicurious offers an "ultimate gluten-free guide", that, while surely not "ultimate" by any definition of the word, also includes this gluten-free pizza recipe from Zoe Singer.

Photo: David Marc Fischer

GFRAP NEWS

The really big news is that Bloom's New York Deli is finally offering buns and bread to go along with what had been its naked gf burgers and sandwiches. It's about time!

I got the information from the latest newsletter of the Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group (WCSSG), which created the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program (GFRAP).

In other news, Karen Miller will take over as GFRAP-WCSSG chairperson, taking over many of the responsibilities handled by GFRAP founder Pat MacGregor (who will retire as Chairperson but remain a liaison and board member) and Liz Lebo (who will retire as a Coordinator but remain a liaison and advisor).

And coming soon upstate will be another GFRAP restaurant—west of the Hudson!

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PEEPS

They are gluten-free.

Click here to learn even more.

And enjoy the video!



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SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

The Westchester Celiac Sprue Support Group (WCSSG) is holding its next meeting on Sunday, March 30th at 3:00 pm at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Come as early as 1:30 pm to take full advantage of the vendors at the meeting. They include Everybody Eats (crusty breads!) and Joan's GF Great Bakes (bagels and now a pizza with great buzz!) as well as Mary Ann Roglieri, author of The Gluten Free Guide to New York.

The educational part of the program is a "response to the many requests we have for help with living as well as eating gluten free." Social workers Emily Feiner and Eibhlin Donlon-Farry will cover topics such as menu essentials, keeping things in perspective, self-perception and self-esteem, dealing with social embarrassment, coping according to your personality type, and dining (and dining out) for business, friends, and family.


The Greater New York City Celiac Support Group (GNYCCSG/CSA) is holding another one of its dinners, this time at Bistango (415 Third Avenue at East 29th Street) on Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 (though you're encouraged to arrive fifteen minutes earlier). Reservations (and, if necessary cancellations) should be made with group leaders Merle Cachia (212-662-2464) or Mary Ferry (212-304-1026).


HEADS UP A fundraising walk is scheduled for Sunday, June 1, 2008. Click here for a glimpse of last year's walk.

WANTED: GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

Do you know a recipe for excellent gluten-free pizza dough?

Luanne Alese of Shoreham, Long Island, wrote to Newsday (March 19, 2008) hoping to find a recipe for gluten-free pizza dough. Food writer Erica Marcus went to celiac.com and ate up a bunch of recipes—but only with her eyes, it seems. She wrote

The bottom line is that bread made without wheat - hence, without gluten - is never going to approximate the real thing.

I found quite a few bread / pizza crust recipes at celiac.com and, in addition to nonwheat flours made from rice or tapioca, they all called for thickening agents such as guar gum, xanthum gum or gelatin. It's hard to believe that the results are going to be very pizza-like.

Instead of searching in vain for a decent wheat-free pizza, I'm going to suggest you dig into the world of global flatbreads....

So what do you think? Is it futile to search for an excellent gluten-free pizza dough recipe?

If you have a recipe, feel free to let Erica Marcus know by leaving a comment or emailing her here, or by writing to her at

Erica Marcus, Food/Part 2
Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd.
Melville, NY 11747-4250

IN THE SPIRIT OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY?

I sure hope extremedave2006 (no relation) doesn't mind my sharing this rant today. And I want him to know that there's quite a bit of gluten-free beer now available in New York City. So maybe there's hope for Sheffield too!



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SHAMELESS CAP PROMOTION

Soon the change of season shall come. Baseball players will migrate back to their home stadiums and you'll be luxuriating in the sun. So accessorize properly with visor caps from the Gluten-Free NYC Boutique!











































Designs by Debbie Glasserman Design

TRACE ADKINS: FAN OF FAAN

For eleven weeks country music hunk Trace Adkins has managed to fly under the radar of Celebrity Apprentice (Season 7), with an 0-2 record and a place in the final four alongside Carol Alt (2-0), Lennox Lewis (2-0), and the cunning Piers Morgan (2-1).

Why do I give a darn about this? Because Adkins is on Celebrity Apprentice to raise money for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). This excellent organization recently took an unfair hit in a Harper's article by Meredith Broussard, so it's nice to see Adkins going to bat for the group.

I believe the next episode of Celebrity Apprentice will air on Thursday, March 20.

Here's his video for "I Got My Game On."



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WHAT'S BLACK AND WHITE...AND BACK?

Until recently, I think the only time I saw a gluten-free Black & White Cookie was upstate, at the Gluten Free Bread Basket, which is long gone. So I was glad when I recently spotted some for sale at Risotteria (right)! They're delish—my only complaint is that the icing sometimes seems to be more attracted to the plastic wrapper than to the cookie (which the wrapper keeps fresh and moist for days). Could this be a job for wax paper?

And hey—I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks of them as half-moons.

Photo: David Marc Fischer

BLOGNEWS

Gluten-Free Girl didn't get a 2008 Bloggie, but it looks like she's gonna have a baby!

Meanwhile, A Gluten Free Guide has gotten a makeover—and blogger Catherine is due to appear on CNBC's dLifeTV on Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 7 pm ET.

PASSOVER TIPS

With Passover 2008 starting on the evening of April 19, I thought I'd share some tips.

As my longtime readers might remember, for a "matzoh ball" mix I'm a fan of Lieber's Knaidel Mix (right), which is made from potatoes.

Among the gluten-free products that are suitable for Passover are treats from Shabtai Gourmet, which include old-fashioned bakery sweets such as rainbow cookies. Shabtai, which markets its products at supermarkets and health food stores as well as Amazon and FreshDirect, has been reaching out for years to gluten-free people in the greater metropolitan area and beyond, including this blogger and Mike Eberhart of Gluten Free Blog. So far I've found that, with Shabtai, preferences are surprisingly varied (for instance, Mike and I both like the Meltaway Crumbs, but he and my mom seem to like the layer cakes more than I do, and I once had a very decadent almond pasty marble cakey treat that I'm having trouble identifying at this point), so I think you could do worse than sampling various Shabtai products and judging for yourself. (It's great to have choices, isn't it?)

For the DIY crowd, Gluten-Free Bay offers many Passover recipes. And Ellen Allard at I Am Gluten Free offers her own recipes including one for a matzo substitute using a mix from Breads from Anna. Here is Ellen's accompanying video.



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(PEANUT-FREE) RISOTTO CHALLENGE!

So you think your risotto is hot stuff? And not just because of those hot peppers? Then maybe it's time you put your recipe to the test!

Brooklyn's Loki Lounge will be the site of a Risotto Challenge on Wednesday, April 2, 2008.

Register by March 23; You can find the rules at Not Eating Out in New York. Just leave out anything with peanuts in it, as one of the judges is peanut-free.

Thanks to Gothamist for the lead.

For inspiration, here's a scene from Big Night.



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STUDIES SUMMARIZED



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Capsule Endoscopy Findings

Capsule endoscopy offers a detailed view of the entire digestive tract (see sample above). A Mayo Clinic study using capsule endoscopy showed that damage in the small intestine due to untreated celiac disease can vary significantly from patient to patient and not heal completely even after a year or more on a gluten-free diet. The degree of damage "did not explain differences in clinical presentation." (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CNNMoney.com)


Oral Manifestations

A meta-study found:

Dental enamel defects are the oral lesions most closely related to CD. There are conflicting data on the association between CD and recurrent aphthous stomatitis. A correlation of CD with atrophic glossitis has been reported, although robust evidence in support of it is lacking. Patients with CD have caries indexes seemingly lower than healthy individuals, but they may experience delay in tooth eruption. Occurrence of other oral mucosal lesions in CD subjects is likely occasional.

and concluded that

Patients with systematic dental enamel defects should be screened for CD even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms. CD screening tests for patients with oral aphthae or idiopathic atrophic glossitis should be selectively considered during a medical evaluation that focuses on all aspects of the patient's status. (Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology)

Seniors

Israeli researchers identified a group of seven people with celiac disease who had been diagnosed after age 60 and saw signs of improvement in cognitive decline (previously attributed to Alzheimer's Disease) as well as other symptoms:

The most common presenting findings were weight loss, iron deficiency anemia, and diarrhea. Two patients suffered from severe early osteoperosis and 2 additional patients had elevated liver function tests. Neurologic manifestation was suspected in 3 cases. Two female patients presented with cognitive decline that was attributed to Alzheimer dementia but ameliorated after the initiation of gluten-free diet. The third patient had peripheral neuropathy that completely resolved after the initiation of gluten-free diet. Median lag in diagnosis was 8 years. Diet treatment led to complete resolution of symptoms in most cases and a significant weight gain.... (Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, NewsRx)

Thanks to Michael Thorn

UPCOMING EVENTS



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This week alone there will be a Paul Taylor Dance Event (see company above) on Wednesday and a Happy Hour Meetup on Thursday. On Sunday, March 9, 2008 there will be a bowling fundraiser in Syosset; you can read more about that here.

The CeliacChicks mention still more events here.