RECALL: WEGMANS BOUILLABAISSE SEAFOOD SAUCE!

You know that WHEAT that's mistakenly on Vita herring labels? Turns out it should have been on the labels for Wegmans Bouillabaisse Seafood Sauce, 8oz.

That's why Wegmans has announced a recall for all packages with "Use By" dates up to and including 12/24/07:

Wegmans has recalled this item because it contains wheat that is not listed on the ingredient label. The recall is of concern only to individuals who have an allergy to wheat or have a gluten sensitivity. Consumption may cause serious reactions to people with a wheat allergy.

All product can be returned to the customer service desk for a full refund.

For more information, please call 1-800-WEGMANS (934-6267), ext. 4760, Monday through Friday 8:00am-5:00pm.

So far, it seems there have been no reports of illness due to the mislabeling.

Wegmans was on the cutting edge when it came to supermarkets stocking gluten-free products in designated areas. Its website includes a list of gluten-free products and a page about gluten sensitivity. It even submitted a statement to the FDA about...labeling!

FISHY BUSINESS

Today I ate a food even though its label clearly stated that it contained WHEAT. Yet the food did not, in fact, contain wheat!

How could this have come to pass?

Jars of Vita herring have long sported such a label, but only recently did the company do the research that led it to recognize that its vinegar does not, in fact, contain wheat. So, for the time being, the labels continue to say WHEAT...but soon they will not.

I first got wind of Vita's policy switch from a post on the international celiac mailing list:

I just got off the phone with Vita Herring. What a wonderful conversation. The woman (Joan), actually knew what she was talking about.

The labels on the herring say wheat, because the vendor who provides them with the vinegar wanted to go through the steps to get his product tested by a reliable lab, to be sure it was really o.k. to say gluten-free or to leave off the wheat as an ingredient. In the meantime, when the labels were printed, in accordance with the Jan. 06 food labeling law, since the vendor wouldn't confirm gf, Vita put wheat on the label, to play it safe.

The vendor has verified that his vinegar is gluten-free, and provided Vita with documentation. They are in the process of using up the old labels, and printing new ones, at great cost.

But the bottom line is Vita Herring is gluten-free, and always was, despite the label.

Here's the note I subsequently received from a customer service manager at Vita:

I have good news! Vita now has certification from our suplier [sic] that our Vinegar does not contain any gluten. The vinegar we use was the only ingredient that we could not get certification from the supplier. We have now received certification from our supplier that our Vinegar does not contain any gluten. In addition, we had gluten testing performed by an outside lab on our vinegar containing products. The tests were negative for gliadin, a component of gluten.

Now that Vita's vinegar confusion has been cleared up, soon the only thing fishy about its labels will be the herring itself!

MOLECULE OF THE YEAR

Yes, it's that time again! Soon Time will announce the Whatever of the Year!!

Don't get me wrong: Of course I think You should get it. But face it: You already got it last year! And I know you're not the greedy sort.

So instead I'm nominating Gluten as the Molecule of the Year—and not just because of that celiac thing. Sure, that's a biggie, but there was also that melamine scare, when media warned that millions were endangered by food containing wheat gluten...that is, millions of pets were endangered by pet food wheat gluten that contained the poison melamine.

That message about gluten really got through to the public over the past year. Also making some inroads into public awareness was one of this blog's pet issues: Millions of undiagnosed and misdiagnosed Americans are endangered by food containing wheat gluten. As the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) puts it, "Roughly one out of every 133 Americans has celiac disease, but 97% remain undiagnosed. This means that almost three million Americans have celiac disease and only about 100,000 know they have it."

So Gluten gets my vote for the pet food and the human food angles...and also for its metaphoric value. At present, it stands for the way foods and other products can turn out to contain some hazardous surprises...especially when labeling, quality control, and medical knowledge are lacking.

GRINCH FRIES!



Source (5:23)

GLUTEN-FREE LIVING LICKS STICKY SUBJECTS

I'm still making my way through the latest issue of Gluten-Free Living (Fall 2007), but it already strikes me as a keeper. I'm going to try to go over some of the highlights while not stepping on too many toes, and also take note of an opportunity to save on future issues of the magazine.

As you might recall, Gluten-Free Living has been in the forefront of using research to debunk myths about eating gluten-free, such as the unsupported fear of distilled liquor and most vinegars. In this issue of Gluten-Free Living, associate editor Amy Ratner investigates the issue of gluten in envelope and stamp glue. After contacting envelope glue manufacturers as well as the United States Postal Service, Ratner finds that both types of glue are gluten-free. So, if you're still using snailmail, worry no more about winding up like George's fiancée Susan on Seinfeld!

Elsewhere in the magazine, Ratner also covers opinions about the continuing issue of "gluten free" labeling. (I tend to concur with Bruce Ritter of Elisa Technologies, who favors identifying specific test results, such as "Contains less than 5 ppms of gluten," rather than simply using blanket statements such as "gluten free" or "low gluten," which are recommended by food industry interests including General Mills, as Ratner reports.)

The new issue also includes a remembrance of the late Bette Hagman, a mention of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG), advice on fat in gluten-free diets from Tricia Thompson, cold weather recipes from Jacqueline Mallorca, and articles on "tricky" ingredients and healthy pregnancies by magazine founder Ann Whelan. Plus, there's a $1.50 coupon for Erewhon cereals!

Which brings me to the money-saving opportunity. The cost of the magazine is due to go up to $34/one year or $56/two years starting on January 1, 2008, so there's still time to subscribe at the current rate of $29/year or $49/two years. Supporting Gluten-Free Living supports its journalistic research, which plays an important role in addressing the day-to-day needs of gluten-free people. You might even want to bring the publication to the attention of area libraries that could add it to their holdings.

WHAT SHOULD WE PAY FOR THE FDA?

Like it or not, we count on the Food and Drug Administration to establish and maintain standards of quality and honesty when it comes to foods, medications, nutritional supplements, and the like. Currently involved in defining "gluten-free," the FDA also went after the French Meadow Bakery in 2006 after the bakery proved slow in removing the wheat-free label from its spelt products.

The FDA is, of course, hardly above criticism. The latest comes in the form of yet another report, entitled "FDA Science and Mission at Risk," that finds that consumers are at risk due to the FDA being underfunded and understaffed. As reported by Julie Schmit of USA Today, foodmakers are only inspected about once every ten years, poor IT at the agency results in slow responses to product complaints, and FDA inspections of the food supply have dropped 78% over the past 35 years due to inadequate FDA funding combined with dramatic increases in products, to cite just three of the worrisome findings.

According to "FDA Science and Mission at Risk," taxpayers contribute about 1.5 cents per day to the agency, but a contribution in the vicinity of 3 cents per day would enable the agency to better fulfill its mission. That would mean paying about $11 per year instead of $5.50 for FDA services—certainly food for thought during a big election year.

GLUTEN-FREE TV: RULES OF ENGAGEMENT



Source (00:04)

I happened upon the above video clip but didn't know it was from the CBS show Rules of Engagement until I found this post among those related to celiac disease at The Flibbertigibbet.

The episode, "A Visit from Fay," can be found online via the show's official website; Stacey Wynne Stewart offers a detailed episode summary. In brief, Fay (played by guest star Peggy (The Mod Squad, Twin Peaks) Lipton) is a hippy-dippy Mom whose way of life freaks out her future daughter-in-law Jennifer (Bianca Kajlich, above), but by the end Jennifer realizes she should be more flexible and accepting of Fay. Not unlike the character Red Goldreyer on Cavemen, Fay is gluten-free.