South Sound's G.F. Joe's is Closing

Sad news for the South Puget Sound gluten-free community - G.F. Joe's Gluten Free Market is closing both it's Olympia and Tacoma locations.  Last day is Saturday, June 14 including a "garage sale" of store fixtures from 10-6.

Hurry in to stock up on those hard to find and specialty gluten-free products.

Thanks, Joe & crew, for offering the gf community a safe haven and for being such a phenomenal resource over the years.  You all will be missed!

Gluten-Free Halloween

Halloween is creeping up on us and as we approach the time of ghouls, ghosts and gobs of candy, it's good for parents to be aware of what treats are and are not gluten-free.  One surprising fact to keep in mind is what you think you know about gf candy may not apply during Halloween.  Many sweets manufacturers change ingredients during the major candy-related holidays to make accommodations for color or design, and as a result, this can change the ingredients and/or the plant where the candy is produced.  Which can change a usually gluten-free candy to not so gluten-free. You're best bet is to ALWAYS read the ingredients and to watch for anything wheat-derived.  Specifically look out for barley malt, caramel coloring (depending on where it's made this can be an issue) and wheat-derived glucose syrup.  And of course, check the allergens list on the wrappers for wheat.

Here are a few helpful lists for Halloween 2013:
Celiac Disease Foundation 2013 Candy List (pdf)
Celiac.com Candy List - includes both a list of safe and unsafe treats
Sure Foods Living Quick List of GF Candy (more detailed list here)
About.com Celiac 2013 Halloween List

Happy, safe and gluten-free trick-or-treating!

Environmental Working Group's 2013 Dirty Dozen-Clean Fifteen List

OK, it's Tuesday which means I'm totally swamped with carting kids hither and yon.  But I wanted to get this out to you all since in my humble opinion, EWG's Dirty Dozen-Clean Fifteen list for fruits and vegetables is an invaluable tool in the quest for clean eating (and the pdf is free).  You can find the summary of it here, as well as donate to their worthy cause and sign up for their emails.