Author: Diane

Pastativo

Beachwood Place

Archived by Diane on 4/14/2019: Location closed.

pastativo.com

Beachwood Place Mall – food court
26300 Cedar Road.
Beachwood, Ohio 44122
216-360-7278

Diane writes:
There’s a new place to try at the Beachwood Place food court, located next to Chick-fil-a. It’s a Piada-type place, but has gluten free pasta. While you watch, the chef creates a pasta or salad with your choice of toppings, meat, sauce. The meatballs have gluten and there are croutons, breadsticks and gluten filled desserts. But they use a clean pan and spoon and the chef used clean gloves and was aware of issues of cross-contamination. I had GF pasta with marinara sauce and lots of vegetables. The previously cooked GF pasta (confirmed cooked in clean pot – new water) fell apart with reheating in the sauce, as GF pasta will do. But it was a huge portion, very reasonably priced, fresh and tasty. Companion enjoyed a colorful salad – another GF option.

Pastativo

Chex Oatmeal

From Joan:

Chex Gluten Free Oatmeal is available at Marc’s – 2/$5.

Chex Oatmeal

 

Diane adds:

The packaging is labeled “gluten free” but the ingredient listing just says “whole grain oats”.

So, I was unsure whether pure gluten free oats were used in this product.

A statement on the company’s facebook page is reassuring:

The oats used for the oats & oatmeal products are sourced from a vertically integrated gluten free oat source. We also validate our cleaning and changeover methods at the plants for any system/line that will run a gluten free product. Ongoing verification gluten testing is performed at the finished product level. As such, any General Mills product that contains a “gluten free” claim meets the safety and regulatory definition of less than 20 ppm. While there are many “gluten free” certification bodies, General Mills’ standards meet and/or exceed the qualifications defined by these organizations. Therefore, you can be confident that our “gluten free” products are safe and meet global certification and regulatory standards.

Have you tried it? Have you seen it in other stores?

NOTE by Diane 9/30/15:
Gluten Free Chex Oatmeal has been discontinued.

Is Omission Beer Gluten Free?

Laurie wrote in the 6/1/14 NEOCN newsletter:

Omission beer is a barley based beer. It cannot be labeled as gluten free by the TTB or FDA because its source is a prohibited grain (barley). Enzymes are added to break down the gluten after brewing. The test used by Omission to see if there is any residual gluten is the Competitive Elisa Test which is a controversial test.  So when Omission says the beer is under 20 parts per million, the results are in doubt because the test is in doubt by experts. Tricia Thompson MS RD, “The Gluten Free Dietitian” states: Experts who I trust immensely agree that they can NOT say for certain at this point in time whether Omission beer is safe for people with celiac disease to drink based on the data that  has been released by Omission.” Please read: https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/reportUploads/Gluten_Removed_Barley_Based_Beers_Jan_14.pdf

Dr. Fasano seemed to agree with Tricia Thomson when he stated that  “the purpose of the R5 ELISA is to test for cross contamination with naturally occurring gluten, not gluten that is artificially manipulated or degraded by an enzyme.” (Credit: Celiac Community Foundation of Northern California)

I know many might have an emotional reaction to hear this news. What further complicates this is that stores like Heinen’s or Giant Eagle may have a display of Omission beer in their gluten free aisles. Please question Heinen’s or Giant Eagle on this choice; and before you purchase, please look into this issue so you choose the gluten free beer that is safe for you.