Some new gluten-free bread finds in Jacksonville

A made a couple of interesting bread finds in the last few days.

The most exciting was finding Schar's parbaked baguettes at Native Sun. About a year ago, I got some free samples from Schar's of their parbaked rolls and they were the best gluten-free rolls I've had. You pop them in the oven for five or ten minutes and you have great fresh rolls. I've been waiting for these to become available at stores in the Jacksonville area.

I really liked the sub sandwich rolls. I felt that this was a product that all sub shops should have to accommodate gluten-free customers. The rolls come in individual plastic packages that have a long shelf life, so you can keep them around for a while. The baguettes I bought have a Feb. 22 freshness date.

There was a space marked on the shelf at Native Sun for the sub rolls but it was empty. Hopefully, they will be restocking because I really want to get my hands on them.

Unfortunately, I don't get to Native Sun that often because I don't live near there. That's why I was happy about my other find, finding Rudi's gluten-free bread at my local Publix. I know Rudi's has been available at Native Sun, but Publix is more convenient for me and probably a lot of other people.

Publix has been stocking Udi's for quite some time and I don't know yet if I prefer Rudi's to Udi's, but it's nice to know I now have a choice.

Happy gluten-free Halloween

If you're worried about Halloween, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has some tips, including a link to a lengthy list of gluren-free candy. You can find it here:

http://www.celiaccentral.org/halloween/

Omission finally reaches Jacksonville

I've been waiting and waiting, and now Omission Beer has finally made it to Jacksonville.
Thanks to a tip from Ed Stansel, co-author of the Times-Union's Amber Waves column, I found that Omission was on sale at Broudy's in Jacksonville Beach.
Unlike other gluten-free beers, Omission Beer is made from traditional beer ingredients, including malted barley.

The brewer, Widmer Brothers of Portland, Ore., claims it has a proprietary process that removes the gluten. The company says every batch of beer is tested and that it meets the proposed FDA standard that something can be labeled gluten free if it has less than 20 parts per million of gluten.
Interestingly enough, Omission says nothing on its label about gluten. The Omission website says it can't legally claim that the beer is gluten free until the FDA standards are approved.
Anyway, the beer comes in two varieties, lager and pale ale. I bought the pale ale.
Omission's selling point is that, because it is made from traditional ingredients, it tastes more like regular beer than other gluten-free beers.
I did enjoy my pale ale but frankly, it's been two years since I've had a regular beer and I think I've really forgotten what that tastes like. So I can't tell you how it compares with regular beer.
I can compare it with other gluten-free beers. I really don't think it was any different than New Planet's pale ale.
Still, it's nice to have more gluten-free options out there. I'll have to try Omission's lager.

Winn-Dixie promotes gluten-free items

Winn-Dixie Stores has been taking steps recently to promote gluten-free items in its stores. The latest move is to offer a special sales circular for gluten-free items.
The circular is available in stores and also on its website, which you can view here. Price in the ad are effective through Oct. 23.
Before it merged with Bi-Lo earlier this year, I had many opportunities to meet with former Winn-Dixie CEO Peter Lynch and pestered him with questions about gluten-free products. He seemed to recognize the importance and even told me a year ago that Winn-Dixie would be putting stickers on the store shelves to indicate products that are gluten-free, just like Publix does.
With the merger, that program seemed to be delayed and I haven't seen the stickers in my local store. But Bi-Lo has a gluten-free sticker program, so I'm hoping that will happen eventually. At least we know that Winn-Dixie is interested in serving gluten-free customers.

Celiac Support Group meets next week

The next meeting of the Celiac Support Group of Jacksonville will be Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 6.p.m.
The meeting, as always, will be held at Sunrise Assisted Living of Jacksonville at 4870 Belfort Rd., just south of Butler Boulevard.
If you haven't been to one of our meetings before, please come. There is no need to RSVP. The support group is a chance to exchange information or just commiserate about dealing with celiac and the resulting gluten-free diet.
If you need more information, drop me a line at basch.mark@gmail.com

Petition to finalize gluten-free standards

We're still waiting for the federal government to finalize standards for labeling foods as gluten free. A celiac advocate has started a petition on the White House website to urge the administration to get it done.
I don't know whether this petition will do any good, but it sure can't hurt. You can sign the petition yourself online here.
You have to create an account on the White House site to sign the petition, but that only takes a few seconds.