New / Returning

Udi’s GF Au Naturel Granola

French Meaddow GF Pizza Crusts — Get a $1 Off Coupon Here.

Toffuti Marry Me GF-CF Frozen Bars

Deerfield’s GF Bakery Baguettes (2 pack) — Bake for 10 min for a real baguette, artisan crust, steamy soft in the middle.

Deerfield’s Chips and Wally, and Brownie Cookies.

Glow GF Cookies (Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Ginger Snap and Snickerdoodles)

In-Store Coupons

$3.00 OFF ALL RenewLife Norwegian Fish Oil Capsules

FREE RenewLife First Omega Fish Oil Caps with the purchase of Ultimate Flora Probiotics - at $37.99, a 20% savings.

$1.00-$0.50 OFF all Earth Friendly cleaners

Printable Coupons

$1.00 off any French Meadow Product
$0.55 off any Enjoy Life Product
$0.50 off any Blue Diamond Product

Wholesale 

Have a group, restaurant, bakery or food service?  Want a wholesale or multi-case order?  We buy direct, you save.  Contact the store for info: (708) 590-6205.

We accept all competitors’ coupons

We sell in bulk sizes at considerable discounts.

We ship nation-wide – Free Shipping for orders over $100

Easter Bunnies are Coming! 

We have a limited number of 6″ chocolate Easter Bunnies coming from a dedicated, gluten, dairy, egg and nut free facility.  Call 708-599-6205 to reserve.

Potential Food Allergy Therapy Worth Watching

Recently a few small and very experimental studies have demonstrated promise for one day having a therapy for food allergies.  The studies involve administering incremental micro-doses of the very food to which patients are allergic, thereby decreasing IgE and retraining the body’s immune system to become more tolerant of the offending food.  A small study at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center resulted in 29/30 participants being able to tolerate 7x more milk than before the study began. A similar study also at JHU with 45 participants involving egg concluded with 21/40 being able to tolerate 5 g of eggs without having a reaction.  Last year a slightly different study also at JHU involving milk had similar promising results for 16/18 patients, and a recent small study at Duke University involving 15 patients resulted in 9 of the 15 being able to eat peanuts regularly.  A larger peanut allergy study is being planned at Cambridge University involving 104 peanut allergic patients.  
 
These studies amount to controlled incremental food challenges.  They are experimental, potentially very dangerous and always done in hospitals.  In fact, every patient has allergic reactions when dosage is increased and some experience anaphylaxis. Do not try this yourself.  There is no cure for food allergy.  However, do watch and wait, as repeated studies in different countries mean the medical community is very interested and that a real treatment could be around the corner.  

Top 10 Things Food Restricted Consumers Should Know about Food Recalls and FDA Oversight
  
1.  Most product recalls are initiated voluntarily.  The venue of the announcement, the language used and the scope of the recall itself are generally determined by the company issuing the recall.

2.  Less than 10% of consumer complaints to the FDA result in a recall, according to a 2008 Chicago Tribune article.

3.  Not all food allergy recalls are reported by the FDA.  Many are posted on other websites, which only complicates the matter for consumers. 

4.  Once a recall is issued, no universal mandate is issued to retail establishments to pull the recalled product from the shelves.  This too is volountary. 

5.  If a product has any detectable amount of any of the Top 8 Food Allergens (dairy, egg, wheat, soy, fish, shell fish, tree nuts, or peanuts) and that ingredient does not appear in the ingredients panel, it is considered mislabeled and illegal, according to the 2004 Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA).

6.  “Gluten Free” has not been defined by the FDA or any law and so there are no recalls issued for undeclaired gluten.  It is only by convention that “gluten free” curently means no more than 20 parts per million of gluten, a level generally considered safe for Celiacs, but NOT for those with a wheat allergy, and not necessarily free from all gluten.  Click here for more.

7. Advisory Labels (i.e. “may contain … made on shared equipment with …, etc.”) are neither required, nor suggested, nor regulated by any U.S. oversight body, and so not covered by FALCPA at all.  Contrary to popular belief, advisory labels are not legal cover, see #5 above and here.

8.  A recent independent audit of products with milk advisory labels found that, 35% contained detectable levels of milk. One must assume that this is representative.  

9.  The FDA is extremely under-staffed, which is why recalls follow trends.  This week it was salmonella, last week there were food allergy recalls, before that it was hazelnuts, etc.  This all means that potentially dangerous products are under-reported.  According to a summer 2009 report, the FDA inspects less than 1% of all foods imported into the U.S.

10.  Your voice as a consumer is best heard by getting involved in one of our many fine advocacy groups, such as CSA, GIG, FAAN or FAI [psst: It is because of groups like these and countless activists that a food allergy labeling law exists at all.]

Gluten Free Cooking Expo 

The Gluten Free Cooking Expo is returning to the Lisle Wyndham Hotel this April 17-18.  This is shaping up to be The gotta’-be-there-GF-event of 2010.  Here’s why you should register: two full-days of gluten-free cooking demonstrations by notable chefs, cookbook authors and nutritionists; printed recipes so you can follow along, take notes and ask questions about successful replacement ingredients for common allergens such as soy, sugar, egg, dairy and corn; learn how to prepare each dish, and getting the chance to taste them as well; now 60 vendors will be on hand sampling new products; gluten free gift bag and a gourmet gluten free lunch included.  Register here today!

Gluten Free Chicago

Mon., March 8 — MOCHA (Mothers of Children Having Allergies) meets 7:00 - 9:00 pm at Highland Park Hospital, 777 Park Avenue West, Highland Park, IL 60035, meeting room 2 (in the basement).  Special guest: Sunshine Best.  Call 847-432-8000 for more information.

[Meeting Date Change] *Tues. March 9 — Gluten Intolerance Group, Orland Park meets at PF Chang’s for dinner at 6:00 pm, 14135 South La Grange Road, Orland Park, IL 60462-1159.  $25 all inclusive dinner, tip, tax and non-alcoholic drinks: Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Fried Rice, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Chang’s Spicy Chicken, Ginger Chicken with Broccoli, Flourless Chocolate Dome — Served Family Style.  Vegetarian Options available.  Please RSVP to the group leader, Jen Cafferty: jen@gfreelife.com or 847-217-1317.  Normally this group meets every second Monday of the month at Free From Market.

Gluten Intolerance Group, Northbrook meets at 1127 Church Street at 6:30 pm.  Contact the group leader, Jen Cafferty for more information: jen@glutenfreeclasses.com or 847-217-1317.

Salmonella — 3/1/10 - Heartland Foods, Inc. is recalling its “Coarse Ground Black Pepper” because of possible contamination with salmonella.
 
Salmonella, 3/1/10 - T. Marzetti Company is recalling a number of its Spinach, Ranch and Veggie Dips, sold in plastic tubs under the brands “T. Marzetti“, “Great Value” and “Oak Lake Farms” brands, due to possible contamination with salmonella.  The dips were distributed nationwide to popular grocery stores.  Click here for a complete list of the products affected by the recall.

Salmonella, 2/26/10 - Johnny’s Fine Foods is recalling its Johnny’s French Dip Powdered Au Jus because of possible contamination with salmonella.  The product was made using hydrolyzed vegetable protein manufactured by Basic Food Flavors, Inc. Las Vegas, NV, which initiated a recall of the hydrolyzed vegetable protein due to Salmonella contamination.
 
Salmonella, 2/26/10 - American Pecan Co. is recalling its Pecans because of possible contamination with salmonella.  Distribution was confined to TX.
 
Salmonella, 2/25/10 - Wholesome Spice is recalling 25 Lb. Boxes Of Crushed Red Pepper due to possible contamination with salmonella.  The 25 lb bags were distributed in the Northwestern U.S. not to retail level customers, but to food manufacturers.
 
Salmonella, 2/25/10 - Thumb Oilseed is recalling its Soy Grits and Soy Flour because of possible contamination with salmonella.  Thumb Oilseed distributed these products to its wholesale clients and initiated the recall after an abnormal test result from its routine sampling program.
 
*Wheat, 2/22/10 - Wm H Leahey Associates is recalling its “Carbotrol Plus Sugar-Free Puddings” (chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, banana and lemon) due to undeclared wheat.  The product was distributed nationwide and in Puerto Rico.
 
*Milk, 2/22/10 - Rudolph Foods is recalling its “Pepe’s Louisiana Hot Gigante Cracklins,” “7-Select Louisiana Hot Onion Rings” and “Rudolph’s Louisiana Hot OnYums” due to undeclared milk.  The products were distributed in AZ, CA, NV, OR and WA.

Follow FDA recalls on Twitter here.