Whole Foods new gluten-free baking mixes
Good news! Whole Foods has released their 365 Everyday Value Gluten Free Baking Mixes for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Some of the new products are sandwich bread mix, pizza crust mix, white cake mix, chocolate cake mix, brownie mix, muffin mix, and pancake/waffle mix.
This is a private label product which means that Whole Foods contracts an outside manufacturer to make the products and package it as Whole Foods brand. On one celiac forum, someone said that they confirmed with their local Whole Foods store that the mixes are produced by Gluten-Free Pantry for Whole Foods. When I emailed the corporate office of Whole Foods asking if the same, the response was this: “…the identity of these manufacturers is proprietary information. The manufacturer produces for their own brand as well as for other companies. Divulging this information is a breech in contract and jeopardizes the integrity of the manufacturer and their clients.” I actually don’t agree that anything is being jeopardized here - in fact, people are happy to have Gluten-Free Pantry’s mixes more available and at a lower price.
I am hoping that the 365 Chocolate Brownie mix is the same Gluten-Free Pantry Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix which is my favorite gluten-free brownie mix. The ingredients seem to be the same, just listed in a different order. If anyone has any positive or negative experiences with these mixes, please add comments.
Filed under: News & Research, Products, Gluten Intolerance
I’ve made the Whole Foods Gluten Free brownies twice now and they’re delicious. I followed their advice and put them in the freezer for an hour after they cooled off a bit. I think that’s a great idea–helped make them more fudgy, chewy. They remind me alot of Pamela’s GF brownies.
Also tried the WF’s GF white cake mix. Used it to make cupcakes. I’d say that it was just “ok”–not moist enough. I’d definately play around with this mix, maybe using GLuten Free Guide’s recipe:
http://glutenguide.blogspot.com/2007/02/celebrate-love-with-gluten-free-cupcake.html
I did just learn that Whole Foods is pulling Namaste out of their midwestern stores and replacing it entirely with their 365 line of gluten-free products. I wonder what the response will be to this?
“Divulging this information is a breech in contract and jeopardizes the integrity of the manufacturer and their clients.”
It might be true for diapers or car engine oil. But regarding food allergies, what WE buy is not a brand, a disney bonus toy, or a recipe, but a garantee that the product WAS “assembled” in such or such factory that we trust.
And the reverse is true. We do not buy some products because they might have been assembled on a not-trusted line.
I’ll wait for a few more hyper sensitive people to guinee-pig for us as I’m not willing to guinee-pig on my own son. Reader, please let us know of any reaction to those products (gluten, dairy, egg, nuts or other cross-contamination.)
I wound up in the ER after eating these brownies.
I’m not a celiac by any means - def. gluten intolerant.
I had 2 brownies and then about an hour or two later was doubled over in breath-taking-away abdominal pain. I thought maybe it’s just gas…so I left it alone. (this was last Tuesday evening) - by Thursday morning my other half convinced me to go to the ER.
Of course, they found nothing. So something in them gave me a reaction. I haven’t felt like that in about 7 yrs. It was awful…and 8 hrs. in the ER wasn’t any fun either.
Just don’t buy the GF Pancake and Waffle Mix if you have dairy allergies! It has buttermilk in it. Most of the time, if pancakes are Buttermilk, it will say it on the cover of the box, but I made the mistake of not double checking!!