Gluten-free and allergy-free people have to pay more in general for their groceries. I love Whole Foods Market and am grateful that they carry so many gluten-free items. It’s just that I end up spending so much money there because I buy a lot of my other groceries there too. Great products, but it’s killing my bank account!

One thing I started doing this year to save money is shopping on Amazon. You can find great deals on, well, everything, but also on food. If you have products that have become regulars in your household, buying a case of your favorites can save you money.

Let’s do the math

Here’s a practical example of my money-saving technique: at Whole Foods I think I pay $4.59 for a package of Pamela’s bread mix (a staple in our house). On Amazon, I can buy a case for $23.80, which comes out to $3.97 per package. But wait, there’s more! Amazon now has a subscription service that allows you to set up regular shipments of products, either every 1 month, 2 months, 3 months or 6 months. Setting up a subscription saves you an extra 15% on every shipment. I figure I make bread (or something else with the mix, like pizza) every 1-2 weeks so I signed up for 1 case of 6 to be sent every 2 months. With the extra 15%, the case now costs $20.23, which works out to $3.37 per package. If you don’t use bread mixes, then think about other favorites like Erewhon crispy rice cereal or Larabars or Pamela’s pancake mix.

What about shipping?

Many grocery items qualify for Free Super Saver Shipping with a $25 minimum order. Now, if you are a serious Amazon shopper (as I am), sign up for Amazon Prime! You pay $79 for the year and get free 2-day shipping on anything that ships from Amazon. There is no minimum order. You even get the free 2-day shipping if you send it to someone else, which is great when you need to send a gift quick. I am an Amazon Prime customer and let me tell you, it is great to get your gluten-free groceries in only 2 days (especially when you need them for a party or a trip) and not have to pay any shipping.

Is this an ad for Amazon?

Really I just want to help everyone out there struggling with their grocery bills (not to mention the time and gas spent to go find all of the special products). I do get a small commission if you buy on Amazon when you click through from my site (at no extra cost to you). So if you want to show Sure Foods Living some love, you can either shop at my Amazon gluten-free store where I have hand-picked the products I recommend, or you can just click here to shop anywhere on Amazon. These links are also always available in the right sidebar. Every little bit helps keep this site going and I appreciate those of you who have been doing it!

Filed under: Products, Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Tips | No Comments »

The 4th of July is near. This makes me think of freedom… which makes me think of being allergy-free! Believe it or not, thinking of freedom from food allergies makes me joyous. Even though at times I feel a loss of freedom when I have to avoid gluten, or when my daughter can’t partake in the dessert being offered at a party, I prefer to think of the freedom from all the health problems we experienced before being allergy-free:

for me, it means freedom from stomach pain, fatigue, leg cramps, asthma (and lots more)

for my husband, it means freedom from migraines (dating back to junior high), burning stomach, and acid reflux

for my daughter, it means freedom from hives, rashes, a bad tummy and sudden tantrums

Now go celebrate your freedom with a good ol’ allergy-free barbecue! Here are some tips to make your summer BBQ a hit:

Barbecue sauces
If you like your meat saucy, just be sure to read labels for allergens — manufacturers are required to list the top 8 allergens in plain English on their labels (and Kraft brand will also list if there is barley, rye or oats for gluten-free people). My personal favorite barbecue sauces are

• Daddy Sam’s (gluten-free and free of all top allergens) — spicy and delicious
• Bone Suckin’ Sauce (gluten-free and free of all top allergens) — it’s got a sweetness along with a spiciness that is so good. Go ahead and buy some!

Gluten-free hamburger and hot dog buns
I can’t say I have found any pre-made buns that I think are very good (please enlighten me if you have). My favorite buns I have made out of Pamela’s Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix. If you have English Muffin rings, you can use those for hamburger buns. If you don’t, just use tin foil to make a ring to fill with the bread dough.

I made hot dog bun molds out of aluminum foil and they turned out great. My advice is to make them skinny — mine turned out a little too big. I followed the bread directions, filled my molds and let them rise. I sprinkled sesame seeds on before baking and baked until they were done (normally this bread takes 60 minutes, so I think I baked them for 30 or 40, but it depends on the size of the buns). The result was a soft, not crumbly, bread-y bun.

Side dishes
For a refreshing and unique side dish try making a quinoa salad – it’s easy, delicious, and nutritious! Check out a quinoa salad recipe.

Roasted potatoes are a satisfying gluten-free side dish that everyone loves.

Gluten-free cornbread or biscuits also make a great accompaniment to the meal. Here are some I recommend:

• 1-2-3 Gluten Free Biscuit Mix
• gluten-free biscuits recipe using Bob’s Red Mill flour
• “Bisquick-type drop biscuits” from Pamela’s recipe pages
• The Really Great Food Company’s Cornbread Muffin Mix
• Gluten-Free Pantry Yankee Cornbread and Muffin Mix

Dessert
Don’t forget the gluten-free apple pie!

Have a happy 4th!

Filed under: Food Ideas, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms, Holidays/Special Events, Emotions | 7 Comments »

You have eliminated gluten from your diet and you feel a lot better. You are very careful about what you eat, but you still have symptoms that you blame on gluten somehow sneaking into your food via cross-contamination or because you were not being careful enough. You may be frustrated or confused as to why you are still have reactions when you can’t figure out where the gluten could be.

Perhaps you are getting traces of gluten, but the reality may be that you are reacting to another food. That’s right — you may be sensitive to more than just gluten! It’s not a pretty thought to have to cut another food (or foods) out of your life, but it may make you feel a lot better.

My discovery

After I was gluten-free and felt dramatically better, my body and especially my digestive system, felt clean… I don’t know how else to describe it, but it just felt like there was no turmoil going on inside, like a glass of water without any bubbles. If I did get a trace of gluten, I knew it, and I would track down the source. But then there were times when I had cooked at home and knew that there was no way I could have gotten glutenized (I am sure they will be adding this word to Webster soon!), but still didn’t feel perfect.

After keeping a mental food diary — really paying attention to when I didn’t feel well and what I had eaten prior — I realized that I was blaming gluten for those days when my tummy was feeling, well, bubbly. But it wasn’t gluten at all. It was… drumroll, please… soy! Yes, folks, I do not eat soy anymore. I do eat a little wheat-free soy sauce sometimes and soy lecithin, but other than that, no soy. My daughter is soy-intolerant also, so there you have it — genes at work. Lucky girl… at least she got some of my good genes too: charm, good looks, etc. — ha ha!

I’m not the only one with multiple food sensitivities. In fact, on the celiac.com forum, there is a whole category called Other Food Intolerance and Leaky Gut Issues with people talking about how they have realized that they are intolerant to more than just gluten. This is no coincidence…

Leaky Gut Syndrome

A reason that people can develop more food sensitivities could be leaky gut syndrome, also known as increased intestinal permeability. A very simple explanation of what happens with leaky gut syndrome is this:

1. Large spaces develop between the cells of the intestinal wall (due to many possible causes — see below).
2. Bacteria, toxins, and incompletely digested proteins and fats leak in. Normally these larger molecules would be kept within the intestines, but because of these holes in the intestinal lining, they leak through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, where they normally shouldn’t go.
3. The immune system releases antibodies to fight what it sees as foreign invaders in the blood.
4. These antibodies also attack the body’s own cells, causing damage, allergic reactions, pain and inflammation throughout the body.

What causes leaky gut?

Some of the possible causes of leaky gut syndrome are:

• Damage caused by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen
• Gastrointestinal disease, like celiac disease
• Eating allergenic foods
• Consuming alcohol
• Consuming caffeine
• Taking antibiotics
• Eating too much sugar
• Ingesting toxic chemicals
• Intestinal infection
• Parasites
• Stress

Food sensitivity can cause leaky gut, which can then cause other food sensitivities — it is a vicious cycle.

So, where do you go from here?

If you are gluten-free and you don’t know why you are still having reactions to the food you are eating, I would recommend that you keep a food diary — write down the time that you eat, what you eat, what symptoms you feel at what time of day. If you wake up in the morning and feel fine, and then have breakfast and feel rotten the rest of the day, examine everything you are eating in the morning, from coffee to juice to the milk you pour on your cereal. Once you think you know the problem food, cut it out and see how you feel. You can add it back in later and see if you react (please consult your doctor if you think you are at risk for a serious reaction to a food). In my case, after I cut soy out my diet, my lingering symptoms went away, and I have not wanted to try it again!

And what about that leaky gut? There are a lot of websites out there with advice about how to improve the permeability of your intestines. I am going to start doing some of these things for myself and my family in hopes of preventing more food sensitivities. Here are a few of the sites I found useful:

Liverdoctor.com
The Environmental Illness Resource
Dr. Weil
Leaky Gut Syndrome

Do you have more than one food sensitivity? Let me know in the comments… I’m curious!

Filed under: Celiac Disease, Food Allergies, Gluten Intolerance, Soy Allergy | 8 Comments »

Now that my daughter is in preschool, we are on the birthday party circuit. Telling her she can’t have a piece of cake or cupcake because of her food allergies would be upsetting (for both me and her), which is why I make sure that I always have cupcakes on hand. Here’s how you can do the same and be a superstar mom or dad!

Do this now:

1. Make a batch of chocolate cupcakes, and freeze what you don’t need to use that time, or even double the recipe to make sure you have extras. The easiest thing to do is make a mix, like Pamela’s chocolate cake mix or CherryBrook Kitchen (both good for egg-free). I also like Gluten-Free Pantry and Namaste. Any cake mix can become cupcakes, just cook for less time!
2. Make a batch of vanilla cupcakes too. Vanilla cake is harder to make egg-free, but Pamela has a vanilla cake mix that I have made with egg replacer and they turned out okay (see picture at right) even though the directions say it will not work! Or, if you’d like, make a cupcake from scratch using a gluten-free recipe. And, by the way, muffins magically turn into cupcakes when topped with frosting and sprinkles, so that’s another option!
3. Make chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting and keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Tip: Start by making vanilla frosting, take out half and then add the cocoa to make chocolate — that way, you really are only making one batch of frosting. You can use frosting mixes, like Pamela’s (I substitute softened palm shortening for the butter to make it dairy and soy-free), or you can use good old C&H powdered sugar and follow their easy recipes, some of which are below.

Do this later:

1. Before the day of the party, talk to the host of the birthday party to find out what food they are serving (in case you also need to bring your own snacks or lunch) and what kind of cake or cupcakes they are having. It is usually always some combination of white or chocolate cake and white or chocolate frosting. Try to match what they are having.
2. The night before or the morning of the party, take some cupcakes out to thaw. I bring 2 for my daughter just in case, but she usually only has one. Also, I like to have one on hand in case someone else needs an allergen-free cupcake (hasn’t happened yet, but when it does, I will make someone’s day!) If it is really last-minute, you can thaw the cupcake in the microwave.
3. Take out your frosting to thaw also. Or, you can microwave it just as you would to soften butter (don’t melt it).
4. Frost and decorate the cupcakes. If you want to get fancy, you can use decorating tools. It is actually really easy and you get to feel like a pastry chef for a minute! For sprinkles, I like India Tree brand or Let’s Do Organic Sprinkelz, which are gluten-free (most sprinkles contain wheat). As long as you’ve got yummy frosting and sprinkles, the cupcake part doesn’t even really matter that much!

Now SMILE and pat yourself on the back because your child has not been deprived of that age-old birthday treat - the CUPCAKE!

A few allergy-free frosting recipes adapted from C&H website:

Basic Decorating Icing (good for piping)
Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar (a one-pound box of C&H)
• 1/2 cup butter or shortening (palm if you want to make it soy-free)
• 1/4 cup water or milk (rice milk works well)
• 1 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring
• food color (optional)
• add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder if you want to make chocolate

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Keep icing covered to prevent drying. Store in refrigerator. Thicken with powdered sugar or thin with a few drops of water or milk, if needed. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Vanilla Glaze — a traditional glaze for coffee cakes and sweet rolls, but good on cupcakes too!
Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (you can use non-dairy milk — rice milk works great)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1/2 cup.

Chocolate Glaze — A smooth, rich glaze for cookies, cakes, cupcakes and more!
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chocolate pieces, semisweet
• 1 tbsp. butter or margarine (or shortening)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (or rice milk)

Instructions: In small saucepan, melt chocolate with butter (or shortening). Remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar adding milk gradually until mixture is a pourable consistency. Makes enough glaze for a layer cake.

Filed under: Babies & Kids, Food Ideas, Products, Food Allergies, Dairy Allergy, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Gluten Intolerance, Egg Allergy, Soy Allergy, Holidays/Special Events | 6 Comments »

Would you believe that 30-50% of celiacs do not always adhere to the gluten-free diet? How about that 20% of adult celiac patients’ biopsies do not normalize after diagnosis? According to researchers presenting at Digestive Disease Week 2008, an annual conference in San Diego for physicians and researchers, there is a “need for something beyond a gluten-free diet” in the treatment of celiac disease.

Treatment of celiac disease

In a talk led by Peter Green (leader in celiac disease research and author of the book Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic, which I highly recommend), 2 research groups presented their progress in developing a treatment for celiac disease — Alvine Pharmaceuticals and Alba Therapeutics. Their approaches are different and their outcomes and uses remain undetermined, but both are trying to find a treatment for celiac disease, other than the gluten-free diet. You can hear both presentations in the video clip below.

Screening for celiac disease

Also discussed at the conference: could the criteria for the diagnosis of celiac disease be too strict?

The “gold standard” diagnosis for celiac disease is a positive blood test, followed by a small intestinal biopsy via endoscopy. If the patient has villous atrophy, meaning that the villi of the intestine is damaged to a certain degree, then the person has the official diagnosis of celiac disease.

Dr. Markku Maki from Finland presented his findings about whether this criteria for diagnosis is good enough. His study included 23 people who had elevated antibodies but had normal or only slightly inflamed intestinal lining. They therefore did not meet the criteria for celiac disease. The researchers put one half of this group on a gluten-free diet and the other half continued to eat gluten. They followed both groups for one year — their symptoms, antibodies, and endoscopy. After one year, the gluten-eaters’ symptoms worsened and their small bowels had deteriorated. The gluten-free people’s antibodies disappeared and their bowels became better than before. The gluten-eaters all wanted to go on the gluten-free diet and a year later everyone in that group improved also.

Dr. Maki’s conclusion is that “we have disease before we have gluten-induced small intestinal mucosal lesion.” In other words, perhaps our gold standard needs to be reevaluated, because according to this study, many people already have the disease before it shows up on a biopsy.

You can hear it all for yourself in this video from the conference.

Related reading:
Is a biopsy always necessary to detect celiac disease?
Blood tests are not the final say

Filed under: News & Research, Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance | No Comments »

Years ago, when a boyfriend of mine spent the night at my apartment for the first time (nothing happened, I swear!), he awoke to someone screaming. He jumped out of the bed in full combat mode, ready to attack whatever hideous creature was making those awful sounds. That hideous creature, of course, was me. “Help me! Help me!” I was shouting. “My legs! My legs!” Both of my calves were in painful cramps. If you have ever had one leg cramp, you know that you can pull yourself up and stretch it out. But double leg cramps means you are basically paralyzed, unable to maneuver yourself anywhere.

I gotta hand it to that boyfriend, he came through in crisis — he immediately grabbed my feet and pushed my toes toward me, slowly relieving the cramps. Surprisingly, he stuck around and got used to the middle-of-the-night cramp drill and even married me eventually, despite all my weird ailments!

The leg cramps were worse at night, but also occurred during the day. They came on stronger if I was dehydrated or if I drank beer. Sitting for a long time in one position could bring it on, such as the time I was on airplane returning from a weekend volleyball tournament, where days were spent playing in the hot sun and nights were spent in the bars. The plane had just landed, and as everybody rose to get ready to exit, both my quad muscles in my legs cramped. It was so painful that I involuntarily began shouting profanities (namely, the f-word). I looked up and saw a sea of faces looking down at me. “Leg cramps” I said in a little apologetic voice to the crowd. I looked over at my friend sitting next to me for support but she could only hide her own face and her giggles.

I not only had leg cramps, but I also got cramps in my hands, feet and a few times the muscle between my chin and neck cramped after I yawned (I didn’t even know I had a muscle there until it popped out!)

So what was causing these cramps? Not potassium deficiency, as everyone liked to believe. “Eat more bananas!” people would say. So I ate more bananas. I even drank tonic water because it contains quinine which was used to treat nocturnal leg cramps (now the FDA warns against using it). I had my potassium levels checked and they were normal.

It wasn’t until I had to change to a gluten-free diet after being diagnosed with celiac disease that the leg cramps went away. What a relief! Now I think that the cramps may have been related to my iron deficient anemia (caused by celiac), but no one is sure. All I know is that I don’t miss them one bit (and neither does my husband)!

Filed under: Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms | 9 Comments »

Nobody wants to have a food allergy or gluten intolerance and have to eliminate something from their diet. But what I find interesting is the reaction that people have if it is suggested that their or their children’s health problems (like rashes, eczema, asthma, stomachaches, gas, colic, reflux, headaches — the list goes on) or behavioral/developmental problems in kids (clinginess, tantrums, excessive, crying, delayed speech, attention deficit disorder, and more) or emotional/psychological problems in adults (depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsiveness, addiction) could be due to a food sensitivity.

I have observed people having the following three types of reactions:

Reaction #1: “No way, not me”

For most people, believing that food could cause the above symptoms is difficult. Why is it so hard to believe that what we put into our bodies could actually affect our whole bodies, including our brains (last time I checked, this was part of the body)? Food is our nourishment — we need it to survive — so surely it can’t be harmful. I have heard people argue, “but food is natural.” OK, I say, but some mushrooms are poisonous — go ahead, I dare ya!

Sometimes a person tells me about a problem and how it is affecting his/her life or the life of the child. When I gently suggest gluten intolerance or food allergy, suddenly the problem is “not that bad.” Let’s see, so the problem is bad enough to go to a doctor, it’s bad enough to take medicine for it, it’s bad enough to see a specialist, it’s bad enough to make someone miserable, but it can’t be bad enough to have to change one’s diet… that would be AWFUL!

When I have suggested to someone that they might be gluten intolerant, I have heard the no-way-not-me variation of “Well, I don’t really eat that much wheat anyway.” I challenge anyone to see if they are not eating wheat at least 3 times a day, including snacks. People eat so much wheat! And dairy! And now soy because it’s in everything. Most people are simply not aware of what they are eating. Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease and had to begin to carefully read labels, I thought I ate a very healthy diet. I now realize that I didn’t really know what I was buying or eating.

Some no-way-not-me people do come around after a while and begin to have Reaction #2 below. Many do not (and continue to be miserable).

Reaction #2: “Hmm… I’ll think about that.”

These people know that something is not right and once food allergy is suggested, they are open to considering it as a cause. They may sit with it a while, observe, talk about it some more, read about it, and/or plan it out, and then they may get testing done or do their own elimination diet. However they approach it, sometimes a change is made and ultimately, hopefully, an answer is found. Most people with the I’ll-think-about-it type of reaction feel that changing the diet is a sacrifice that they are willing to make for their own, or their children’s, health.

I’ll-think-about-it people often end up having Reaction #3 below, although some waffle between Reactions #1 and #3.

Reaction #3: “I’ll do it!”

I am always surprised by the people who are willing right away to try eliminating something from their diet. They just do it. They don’t make a big deal about it, they don’t stress over it, they just do it. I don’t know why I am surprised, since I was one of those people. Once I knew that celiac disease and gluten existed (from reading about it on the web), I began eating gluten-free that very minute. When my doctor told me not to go gluten-free until I took a blood test (because it could affect the test results), I cried. I didn’t want to eat gluten ever again!

Still, I am impressed by the mother who stops eating dairy while breastfeeding to see if her infant becomes less colicky, the guy who stops eating gluten to see if his eczema goes away, the mother who stops feeding her baby gluten and dairy in hopes that it will help with seizures, and the many others who removed something from their diet in an attempt to feel better. They decided it was worth a try — if it worked, then hooray! If it didn’t, they were no worse off than before.

Why these reactions?

I have wondered, does the severity of the problem determine a person’s reaction? In my experience, not necessarily. Yes, some people with very serious health problems may be more willing to try a change in diet because they haven’t found answers elsewhere. But I know parents with sick children — and I mean very sick — and people who are suffering with undiagnosed health problems who will not try a gluten-free diet, will not try eliminating dairy, will not make any dietary change to see if it makes a difference.

What drives these reactions, I think, is whether one believes or not. This is also true of doctors — if they themselves don’t believe that food can cause ill health, then they don’t suggest it to patients, and in many cases make patients feel silly (stupid) for asking about it.

So what’s your reaction?

Filed under: Babies & Kids, Food Allergies, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms, Emotions | 6 Comments »

Did you know?

• Celiac Disease is the most common genetic disorder in the world. It affects as many as 3 million Americans, or roughly 1% of the population.

• Type 1 Diabetes affects 1,177,500 people; 6% (70,650) of those diagnosed also have celiac disease.

• 610,000 women in the US experience unexplained infertility; 6% (36,600) of these women might never learn that celiac disease is the cause.

• 350,000 people in the United States are living with Down Syndrome; 12% (42,000) of them also have celiac disease.

• The number of people with celiac disease in the U.S. is roughly equal to the number of people living in the state of Nevada.

• The National Commission on Digestive Diseases (NCDD) recently noted that physicians and medical staff members are unaware of the how common celiac disease is or what symptoms to look for. One of the Commission’s goals is to “improve screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of celiac disease.”

What can you do?

May has been designated National Celiac Awareness Month by the Celiac Disease Foundation, and a bill is up for a vote that asks Congress to support the goals and ideals of National Celiac Awareness Month.

The American Celiac Disease Alliance (the group responsible for getting Congress to require food labeling of allergens) has issued an action alert: share the facts above with the legislators in Congress. Raising awareness of celiac disease can lead to increased physician education and training. This goal and the bill are supported by the American Gastroenterology Association, American College of Gastroenterology, American Dietetic Association, and the American Osteopathic Association.

All you have to do is click this link, fill out the form and either email or mail the letter. Together we can really make a statement!

I am grateful to the American Celiac Disease Alliance for all their work!

Filed under: News & Research, Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance | No Comments »

I have good bones. In fact, I have never broken a single one (knock knock knock on wood). Somehow my untreated celiac disease decided to take out its anger on other parts of me, but left my bones strong and healthy. Some people’s bones, however, are weakened by the effects of gluten, making them more susceptible to fracture.

Untreated celiac disease can greatly affect the bone health in children and adults. A new report from the Laboratory of Pediatric Endocrinology and BoNetwork in Milan, Italy says that bone mass measurements are greatly reduced in children with untreated celiac disease compared to other children. Lower bone mass can lead to bones breaking more easily. Osteoporosis in adults has been linked to celiac disease, believed to be caused by either the inability to absorb necessary nutrients (calcium) for optimal bone health, or by chronic inflammation present in the body due to celiac disease.

Anyone with poor bone health should look at gluten as a cause, even if they don’t have the gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac disease. One study published in early 2008 suggested that screening of osteoporosis patients for celiac disease is advisable, since it may be the only sign of undiagnosed celiac disease.

Luckily, removing gluten from the child’s diet can restore bone mass to normal levels. The bone density of adults can also be improved with a gluten-free diet, but they may not regain bone mass to normal levels. Anyone diagnosed with celiac disease should talk to their doctor about having a bone mineral density test and about nutritional supplements to help restore bone mass.

Related reading:
About celiac disease
Symptoms of celiac disease

Filed under: News & Research, Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms | 1 Comment »

Yes, it was my idea that Starbucks should carry gluten-free foods… mine and a thousand other people’s!

I’m sure that every gluten-intolerant person has gone into a Starbucks and thought, “they should have gluten-free stuff here — they would get so much business!” Well, enough people wrote into the My Starbucks Idea website that the idea is now either “coming soon” or “under review” according to the latest post on the website on April 18.

You too can vote for the gluten-free food idea! And if peanuts are a concern, you can vote for the peanut-free food idea. If dairy or eggs are your problem, vote for the vegan food idea, and if you need to avoid it all, vote for the allergy-free baked goods idea.

Maybe soon we will be able to pick a muffin from the case, just like all the normal people! If you do see something gluten-free at a Starbucks near you, please report it here!

Filed under: Food Allergies, Gluten Intolerance, Restaurants/Bakeries/Stores | 5 Comments »