Ok…The Gluten Dude is jumping into the product review business.
Well, I wouldn’t really call it a business ’cause, you know, I’m not making any money on it or anything.
But lately I’ve been getting samples sent to me. It’s pretty cool. But I feel bad because I haven’t written anything about any of the products I’ve received. The Dude’s been busy!
So starting today, I will do my best to keep up with things.
To all companies out there who would like your product reviewed, just contact me.
Rest assured, my review of your product will be an honest one. Very honest.
Up first is a product simply called The Gluten-Free Bar
First off, kudos to their marketing company. The search engines will love you.
I became aware of this product when InspiredRD did a review and also posted fantastic pictures of one of the ugliest sweaters I’ve ever seen. I knew I had to get my hands on it.
Alysa made the introductions and within a week, I had a box of bars and a sweater at my doorstep.
3 Things I Love
1. I love the texture, the moistness, the size and most of all, the taste. Simply put, it was one of the best g-free bars I’ve had.
2. I love that the company was founded by a fellow celiac.
3. I love the sweater, even though it was only a loaner (see pics below.)
3 Things I Wish
1. I wish they didn’t contain soy. Many celiacs have soy issues as well.
2. I wish they had less sugar.
3. I wish I could have kept the sweater.
You can learn more about The Gluten Free Bar and order online here.
Now…about that sweater.
The GFB Celiac Awareness Sweater Project is a fundraising effort involving a special sweater and a passionate gluten-free community. They send the sweater around, people take pictures with it and the GFB posts the pics on their website and donates $1 to the NFCA for each pic sent.
People have taken some great pics but I was hoping to set the bar a bit higher. What do you think?
Love it! Say Anything is my all-time favorite movie, so I’m partial to that one!
Agreed…my favorite one too. My tagline on their website was “Some people will Say Anything for a Gluten-Free Bar.”
Aren’t I the clever one…
I LOVE that movie and just watched it with some (younger) friends who hadn’t seen it. They were not impressed. If they weren’t so awesome about all my food issues, I’d question our friendship. 🙂
That’s funny V…
I LOVE the sweater pictures and totally want to watch Say Anything right now. As for the bars, I guess I should actually read your review.
🙂
It’s really all about the sweater anyway 🙂
Did they happen to mention whether they test for gluten and what their threshold is? They never would respond to me. I find that strange for a company started by a celiac that manufactures bars that are called The Gluten-Free Bar. Just about all of us know raw ingredients can contain gluten, which makes a dedicated facility kind of worthless. This isn’t a new concept. Bob’s Red Mill batch tests using the latest and greatest technology.
Sorry, but if a company doesn’t answer this question, I start to doubt they have a celiac’s best interest at heart. And I gave them two opportunities.
It’s a very fair question Jen. I will reach out to my contact there and ask them to reply on this blog post. Thanks.
Jen,
First of all, I sincerely apologize that you contacted us and did not receive a reply. I personally review all incoming messages and respond to the messages, it your question was missed, it was my fault. (If you could, please email me at marshall@theglutenfreebar.com so I can understand how you contacted us and look into how we missed it).
Now, onto the question where we are tardy on our response. We are GF certified though GIG and test every batch to 10 ppm – every batch is verified that it is less than 10 ppm before any product is shipped. I am an extremely sensitive celiac and eat 5-7 of our bars every week – I would not feel comfortable doing so unless I was confident in our process and procedures.
Again, I apologize for the delay and confusion. Please let me know if I can answer anything further.
Best,
Marshall Rader
Founder, The GFB
Thanks, Marshall! We’re very excited to try the bars. Having another safe convenience food means having a little spontaneity back, as I’m sure you can relate. 🙂
The pix are great…but they need to GIVE you one of those sweaters…they are quite cool and it will act as a marketing device with “legs”…
Thanks, Gluten Dude! We’ll probably be one of their best customers if they do test and are at the 20 ppm guideline. On the website, they talk about having a dedicated gluten-free facility, but not testing (that I was able to find). Kind Bar does mention testing on their site.
I just emailed them Jen. Hopefully…they’ll respond.
Gluten Dude, we got the info needed. Thanks again.
And BTW, you could go by “Photoshop Wizard” in addition to Gluten Dude!
Who’s to say I actually wasn’t in those films…even though I’m the same age in all three…wearing the same sweater??
I do remember liking these bars and reviewing them back in 2010. The problem I had was the price. I don’t usually pay more than $2.00 a bar. It looks like their prices came down since 2010, though.
Agreed. The price was actually going to be one of my “3 Things I Wish” but then I figured $2 for what would be my breakfast isn’t really too bad. But I do with they were a bit less.
Priceless!! Say Anything is also one of my favorite movies of all time! “Joe Lies, Joe Lies, Joe lies when he cries…” And your expression in the Forrest Gump one had me in stitches. The bar is definitely set. I’m gonna have to get my hands on this sweater. I feel some friendly competition coming on!
Bring it on Christy 🙂
Breakfast is always my biggest problem of the day…I don’t want to, nor do I always have time to cook..I will give these a try and see if they fit the bill! Thanx for the review!!
Your welcome. They honestly are filling enough for a meal…
The bars are good, and are a great standby to throw in your travel bag when you’re flying. And I want a sweater – those are cool looking! Seriously!
The sweater is a great idea by them. Original.
Well, Gluten Dude – they are going to appreciate you posting this review because I just ordered the 3-pack sample pack to try out. I rely on carrying gluten-free bars with me at all times “just in case” – so it would be nice to have some variety. I will definitely try these out – but are there any others you would also recommend? Thanks. 🙂
P.S. GREAT pics with the sweater – and GREAT movies!!
I LOVE the sweater! I get bummed sometimes when I see all these other folks getting great offers like this. I mean, really, no one’s ever sent me a sweater to model!
🙁
Hey…it was a first for me. Reach out to them. They’d love the publicity.
So how do I get a turn with the sweater?
Thank you for the feedback everyone – we really appreciate it and will continue working to improve.
Regarding the soy issue, we know it does not work for everyone and are working on a new protein blend that will eliminate the soy. The trick is doing so while retaining the same taste we currently have. As soon as we have something we will let you know!
Watch for more sweater pictures over the next few months – it is making its way around the country! Thank you again for the support.
Brandi – we’d love to have you join the sweater party – please drop me an email at marshall@theglutenfreebar.com and we’ll get you in line for it!
I will have to look for these. I don’t eat peanuts or several fruits so they may be a problem.
You know I thought the same of the sweater when I first saw your pictures, but was not going to say anything! ; )
And I too am so looking forward to more bars without soy. I wish it was not in soo many things. Do we really need it for flavor??
I think by taste, he meant “texture” since soy tastes like BLECH.
No soy! No soy! No soy!
oh sorry, I thought we were going to do an Attica! Attica! Attica!!
type chant thingy to get rid of the damn soy in everything
(arrgh!)
and I Want a SWEATER. too!!
I thought the pics were Fab!!! btw.
Sorry, GD, IH is a day behind. But I’m all caught up now.
(puff, puff, puff)
I’ll join in to the “no soy” chants. Having to be gluten free is bad enough, then finding out about the rare “great product” you might want to try, and learning it has soy when you have a soy allergy makes you want to throw things. I was soy free first, so the transition to gluten free was a mite bit easier, as soy is in damn near every packaged food in America, so we just eat much healthier. But sometimes, after a long run… Or in a long workshop at school….you just want something easy that tastes good darn it!!!
Can we count on everyone here to be on the taste test team for the soy-free GFB’s?! If you are interested, please message me at marshall@theglutenfreebar.com and when we think we’ve got a final soy-free version we’ll send you samples to try out.
Ha! Great shots! Love the Forest Gump pic.
Reason enough to add the GFB to my GF database.