Some More Information on Gluten-Free

Joan has emailed me some additional information that was passed onto her. Note #4 includes "Food Allergies".

1. Ghirardelli Candy
Thank you for your email regarding Ghirardelli Chocolate. In response
to your inquiry, a majority of our products are manufactured in a gluten
free facility.
The Masterpiece Collection is one of a few items we out source to
separate manufacturing facilities. The Masterpiece Collection contains
barley malt powder as one of the ingredients, which makes this chocolate
assortment not safe for a consumer with a gluten allergen. This
ingredient is listed in the ingredients section on the side of the box.
The second item is our Classic White Baking Chips. These chips are also
outsourced to a plant which also manufactures with gluten products. A
gluten warning is on the packaging of our Classic White Chips.
http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/faq_products_allergy.aspx

Kind regards,
Shawna Ortez
Senior Consumer Affairs Coordinator
Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
1111 - 139th Avenue
San Leandro, CA 94578

2. Lean On Me Baking Company
There is an East Rutherford, NJ baking company producing some frozen GF products like quiche, cheesecake, carrot cake and mousse:
www.leanonmebakingcompany.com

3. Looking for celiacs to interview for local newspaper
Sarah Schillaci (201-664-4056) a reporter for the Community Life newspaper is writing an upcoming piece on living with Celiac disease and is hoping to interview individuals/families.The paper covers seven towns in Pascack Valley (Westwood, Woodcliff Lake, Washington Township, River Vale, Emerson, Park Ridge, and Montvale, NJ). If you are interested in participating or would like additional information, you can contact Sarah at 201-664-4056 or Schillaci@northjersey.com

4. Celiac Disease Seminar
Please join members of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University (Drs. DeFelice, Green and Ms. Lee) who with Dr. Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn, MD, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, will be presenting Sorting Through Celiac Disease and Food Allergies on Sunday, November 18, 3:00 at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $22 for non members and $11 for members of the May Center are $11.
To order tickets online visit: www.92Y.org/toyourhealth
Call 212.415.5500 or visit the box office.
92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128

5. Edy's Ice Cream
Thanks again for all the helpful info. I passed it along to a friend and she had expressed confusion over the labeling of Edy's Strawberry Ice Cream as containing gluten (I hadn't gotten that far), so I went straight to the source (I called) and found that it IS G/F.
The customer service rep (Stephanie) was incredibly helpful (as is the Web site) and she said they are really committed to serving the G/F community and will always help out by labeling things clearly (they even note items that are Gluten-Derived).
http://www.dreyers.com/brand/grand/flavor.asp?b=134&f=1622
http://www.dreyers.com/brand/grandlight/flavor.asp?b=117&f=2320
http://www.dreyersinc.com/partnering/f/flavor.asp?b=105&f=2184

6. Joe's Deli in South Bound Brook, NJ
I wanted to let you know that I went to an awesome GF taste testing last weekend at a friend's Deli in South Bound Brook. She has started to carry Gluten Free items as she has quite a few customers requiring a gluten free diet. I have attached the menu for you. She carries alot of Conte's (Ravioli's and Perogies) and Grainless Baker products. Everything was really good! I believe she will eventually be able to ship items also.
Feel free to contact them if you have questions, the owner's are Joe and Dolly. Hope you enjoy! Nance