It’s six o’clock in the morning and Mrs. Dude just pulled an embedded tick out of my scalp. Fun way to start the day.
Anyway…moving on.
Celiac Awareness Month does not officially start for another two days but our community has done themselves proud over the past few weeks. We have taken some setbacks, made our voices heard and have gotten results.
Cases in point…
Udi’s Responds to the the Issue of Holes in Their Bread
A few weeks back, I did a blog post about the holes in Udi’s bread. I reached out to them on Twitter asking for a response. A few weeks passed and I was ready to give up hope but others piped in and our persistence paid off. We heard from them late last week. Here is what they had to say:
My name is Suzanne Wolke and I’m the Social Media Manager here at Udi’s Gluten Free. I’d love to take this opportunity to answer these very important questions. We completely understand everyone’s frustrations and we’ve been working hard to resolve this issue! My response to Gluten Dude’s questions are below but feel free to respond with any additional questions/concerns you may have. Hope this helps!
1) Why is your bread as expensive as it is, compared to non gluten-free bread?
The primary reason for the price difference between a loaf of Udi’s Gluten Free Bread and a gluten rich loaf is the cost of ingredients and the bakery facilities they are baked in. We try to be cost conscience and still use the finest natural ingredients possible which are guaranteed gluten free. Our bakery is also 100% gluten free with strict guidelines and testing to prevent contamination. These factors together do result in a higher priced loaf or bread, but one that we can be proud of!
2) Why do some of your batches have large holes in them, rendering them basically unusable?
The air pockets in our loaves of bread can be a result of a natural enzyme reaction that can occur during the baking process with gluten-free ingredients.
3) What are you doing to ensure that NONE of your future loaves of bread will have these holes?
We have invested in new equipment and have moved to 100% inspection of our loaves. We have also employed stricter ingredient specifications that will avoid excessive holing. The result of these changes should be showing up on shelves now! Do keep in mind that our products can be kept frozen for 6 months so it may take a little while for all loaves to rotate out of circulation. If you do experience a loaf with air pockets, please let us know so that we can reimburse you.
We want to thank everyone for their patience and support while we’ve dealt with this problem.
So new equipment on the way. Totally cool and kudos to Udi’s for listening to the community and making the necessary changes.
The E! Network Acknowledges They Messed Up Calling Celiac an Allergy
On Jennifer Esposito’s “Playing With Fire” TV show, the E! Network for some reason edited one of Jennifer’s line to make it sound like she was calling celiac disease a gluten allergy instead of an autoimmune disease. Since education is a key to awareness, Jennifer was rightly pissed off and let them know.
Well…the E! Network totally owned up to their mistake, said they did not realize there was a difference, feel awful about it and will address it shortly.
This is why we advocate folks.
H-E-B Kind of Acknowledges They Got Celiac Disease Completely Wrong
H-E-B, a huge grocery store chain, totally butchered the facts about celiac disease in an issue of their “Good News” publication. You can you read about it here. To their credit, they did reach out to me privately and apologized for the misinformation. To my dismay, they did not say they would actually fix the error in a future publication.
Can’t win ’em all.
So take a bow folks. We are making our voices heard and that is what Celiac Awareness is all about.
Let’s keep on keeping on.
Being a celiac advocate comes with some frustrations, but personally,
I will always continue to educate others and assist people in getting the proper diagnosis and aftercare for as long as I have breath.
I also think many people with NCGI are really celiacs -to-be and the gluten intolerance spectrum is a large beast that needs attention.. But one battle at a time. Dr. Fasano is bringing this to light and soon, the medical community will have to sit up and take more notice.
So much work to do. May need more coffee.And possibly, more gin.
Keep up the good work,GD and thank you for allowing me the chance to be a part of a such an awesome community. I appreciate you.
Thank YOU Irish.
Jack Butler: Wanna beer?
Ron Richardson: It’s 7 o’clock in the morning.
Jack Butler: Scotch?
– Mr. Mom
It’s too early for cocktails, isn’t it?.
Probably. What time is it?
11:00 am.
Bloody Mary’s then?**
Cool!
sub in: **mimosas, then?
(Actual conversations between me and any number of people in my life
throughout the years.).
I did my part this week! I had a dental cleaning and came equipped with literature to educate my hygienist and hopefully the entire practice. She said she would make copies and share and definitely look into it more. Dentists and hygienist should all be trained in noticing oral symptoms. Symptoms can start showing on teeth as early as when adult teeth come in, they could refer many children to get tested! Thanks for all you do Gluten dude you are inspirational!
A good month! Thank you GD!
Indeed…thanks.
Hey, I’m new here! Good work, Gluten Dude!
Welcome and thank you!
I love you and your blog Gluten Dude! You rock! Always good for great information and a laugh!
Thanks Chrissy…I do my best 🙂
Love that you are already looking forward to Celiac Awareness Month! 2 more days and counting 🙂 Also I’m loving Udi’s response, and thanks Gluten Dude for asking the questions. I’ve always wondered why they had those holes. I have to say I prefer baking my own bread, but when in a jam it’s important to have something you can reach for.
Last year I did 31 blog posts in 31 days for CAW. Not quite sure what’s in store this year.
And yes…kudos to Udi’s for being straight up.
I just joined your blog and twitter page. I was just diagnosed with celiac after 6 years of suffering the pain and discomfort that comes with it. All this time it was called an allergy. So I sent an e-mail to my employer Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shields and asked them to please meet with me on information on celiac vs Allergies to gluten. I want to make our millions of members if the difference. They are very interested. Thank you for all you do. If you need any help please count with mine.