News & Notes: March 2, 2018

Hoping to turn around its reputation for "holey" bread, Udi's Gluten Free has sought to improve two of its best-selling loaves. The Multigrain and Soft White Sandwich breads have larger slices and a softer texture. The Multigrain variety is sold in 12-oz. loaves, while the white comes in 12- and 24-oz. versions.

In addition to puff pastry dough, Schar is also importing several other gluten-free frozen items to the U.S. this year, including kaiser rolls and pain au chocolat pastries. Like Schar's croissants, the pastries are made with certified gluten-free wheat starch, which is more commonly found in gluten-free products in Europe. You can read about certified gluten-free wheat starch at Schar's website as well as Gluten-Free Living and Gluten Free Watchdog; consuming products with certified gluten-free wheat starch is a personal decision for those with Celiac Disease; such products are not appropriate for those with wheat allergies.

Available in Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Toasted Coconut varieties, Simple Mills’ new gluten-free soft-baked cookies are made with whole-food ingredients like almond flour, honey and coconut sugar. They have no refined sugars or preservatives. Each package contains eight cookies and retails for $4.99.

RP’s Gluten-Free Pasta is rebranding to become Taste Republic. The new Taste Republic pasta line will continue to be certified gluten-free, Kosher, and include fresh pasta favorites such as fettuccine, fusilli and lasagna as well as new items like plantain linguine. Look for the new line to be on retail shelves by May.

Locally, Snap Custom Pizza has opened its newest location in Jenkintown (1621 The Fairway, 215-935-6348), where guests can order custom-made gluten-free pizzas.

Turning Point just opened another southern New Jersey location in Moorestown (1690 Nixon Dr., 856-840-6167. The local breakfast/lunch cafe chain offers a gluten-free menu.

IndeBlue has closed its original location in Collingswood; its Philadelphia outpost in Midtown Village (205 S. 13th St., 215-545-4633) remains open.

Stephen Starr's Philadelphia restaurants have long been accommodating for gluten-free diets. I was able to gather (and have linked to) the current gluten-free menus at Pod, Jones, El Rey, Continental in Old City, Butcher & Singer, Buddakan, Barclay Prime and Alma de Cuba; others, like Morimoto, The Dandelion and Talula's Garden, have lists on site. Note that some restaurants, like Buddakan, do not have dedicated gluten-free fryers; if you're considering ordering fried items, be sure to check with management in advance or when you arrive.

Registration for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's annual Celiac Disease Education Day on Sunday, March 25 is now open. The 13th annual event will take place from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Colket Translational Research Building on CHOP’s campus. Children in attendance are provided the opportunity to attend interactive age specific lectures and to learn through play with CHOP child life specialists. Complimentary gluten-free meals are provided, and attendees can sample gluten-free products from several vendors. I'll be at the Beyond Celiac table, so feel free to stop by and say hello.

Have a great weekend!

- Michael

With the updated Gluten Free Philly app for iOS and Android devices, find more than 1,600 area gluten-free-friendly businesses on the go, search by cuisine or neighborhood, make reservations and more!

Vive La Croissant!

How can Schar make a gluten-free croissant? By using wheat starch - yes, I said wheat starch. "Um, Mike," you say, "you know that wheat is verboten for those on a gluten-free diet." Of course, but it's gluten-free wheat starch. "Wha???????"

Yes, gluten-free wheat starch is a thing. To make its delicious new classic and hazelnut cream filled croissants, Schar uses certified Codex gluten-free wheat starch, an ingredient that has been utilized in European gluten-free products for many years. Schar says that using certified gluten-free wheat starch provides an increased texture and taste that cannot be achieved with the standard gluten-free flours and starches; the gluten-free wheat starch provides elasticity to the dough to create a lighter, flaky texture.

News & Notes: February 6, 2015

European-based gluten-free baker Schar will be bringing gluten-free croissants in the U.S. come March. While the idea of a gluten-free croissant is a novel one, what's more unique is that it's the first Schar product available in America to include certified gluten-free wheat starch - processed to remove gluten - as an ingredient. The wheat starch allows Schar to add a durability to the dough that is key to achieving the croissant’s trademark crust. The use of gluten-free wheat starch is allowed in gluten-free products according to the recently enacted U.S. Food & Drug Administration guidelines so long as the ingredient is disclosed on the packaging and the product tests to less than 20 parts per million of gluten. The croissants come in classic and hazelnut cream-filled varieties.

According to Pam Cureton, R.D., a Celiac Disease specialist at the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment in Boston, “Products made with gluten-free wheat starch are absolutely safe, even for people with particularly high sensitivity to gluten.”

Schar's Director of Nutritional Services, Anne Lee, R.D., told me by email that "first and foremost, we test all of our ingredients before they are allowed into the production facility and we test batches during production as well as the finished product to assure there is no gluten entering our production facilities and no cross-contamination of any kind anywhere along the production and packaging process."