General Mills Expands GF Chex List!

As has been noted elsewhere, General Mills is in the process of adding more Chex cereals to its gluten-free product list. As always, be careful to check your Chex to make sure the label clearly identifies it as GLUTEN FREE and the ingredient list does not mention the dreaded barley malt.

On a recent visit to a Food Emporium in Midtown West, I found gluten-free Honey Nut Cheerios Chex (above, in case you didn't notice) and gluten-free Corn Chex...
























...in addition to gluten-free Rice Chex! General Mills is offering a great example of how sugar and/or molasses can replace the sacred barley malt to make popular products gluten-free. Its Chex cereals are fortified, so you can get a load of vitamins from them, though you might want to take note that the cereals aren't very high in fiber and protein.

And you thought I only shopped on Long Island!

THE BOOMING GLUTEN-FREE FOOD MARKET

Journalists and food marketing gurus continue to tout the booming gluten-free market, as evidenced by the Annys Shin's Washington Post cover "Food Allergies Trigger Multibillion-Dollar Specialty Market", which comes complete with a photo including gluten-free Rice Chex and Mi-Del Arrowroot Cookies.

Some article highlights:

The market for food-allergy and intolerance products is projected to reach $3.9 billion this year, according to Packaged Facts, a New York research firm. And the market for gluten-free foods and drinks is expected to hit $1.3 billion by 2010, up from $700 million in 2006, according to research firm Mintel....


"Rice Chex . . . was truly our effort to meet the needs of these consumers," said Kevin Farnum, director of sanitation, quality and regulatory operations for General Mills. "We know there is a great demand among consumers to have free-from labeling."

Other major food manufacturers such as Kellogg's and Campbell Soup also sell products safe for people with food allergies and celiac, but they have been more cautious about embracing the free-from claim. Unlike with organic products, there are no government standards for what "free-from" means.

The steps General Mills took to insure that Rice Chex was gluten-free also illustrate how hard it can be for a large manufacturer to do so. In addition to tweaking the recipe, the company had to review its production process, from the time the rice is harvested to when the cereal is packaged, to be certain that gluten would not get into the product....


The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade [NASFT], a New York trade group, estimates that 300 of its 2,800 members offer more than 7,000 no-allergenic products, compared with five years ago, when about 50 members did, spokesman Ron Tanner said.

Increasingly, their customers don't necessarily have food allergies or celiac. They just think they do. "As much as 28 percent of U.S. citizens believe they are intolerant to some foods," said Mintel spokeswoman Joanna Peot. "This trend towards self-diagnosis has widened the 'free from' market from those who have to avoid certain foods to those who make a lifestyle choice for whatever reason."

GF RICE CHEX

































As you might have read elsewhere, General Mills is now producing its popular Rice Chex cereal gluten-free, replacing barley malt syrup with molasses (and possibly saving money by avoiding rising barley prices that might make gf beer prices look a lot more reasonable). General Mills, which is now a sponsor of the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF), even has a web page with gluten-free Rice Chex recipes.

Some old boxes of Rice Chex might still be on sale, so make sure that your Rice Chex cereal comes in a box clearly labeled "Gluten Free" on the front.

One of the benefits of Rice Chex cereal—besides its tastiness and widespread availability—is its nutritional content. Unlike many gluten-free cold cereals(but not all—see Perky O's), Rice Chex contains many vitamins and minerals due to fortification. It does not, however, contain a significant level of dietary fiber. And a single serving includes only 2g of protein. So you might want to supplement Rice Chex cereal (and other cereals) with foods that can round out its nutritional content.

In a very brief survey of local markets, I found the price of Rice Chex cereal to be somewhat varied. Coupons can make the purchase easier to swallow.