Michelle (Foodsmatter) has brought together a wide range of expertise and interests: allergy bloggers, chefs, nutritionists, product development experts, food writers and foodies, journalists, and more. And it was fascinating to see the different perspectives on each product. Some people were concerned about the nutritional value; others about the taste; some about whether the product managed to serve multiple allergy-groups; others about whether it was innovative and moving the free from sector forward.

We tasted blind, which resulted in some surprises when the manufacturers were revealed. And tasting a wide range of different products in the same category at the same time isn’t something that you do regularly – unless, I suppose you work in product development, or get to participate in this kind of judging activity. Gluten free food is just too expensive to buy lots of different varieties at the same time! So that too was a surprising exercise (for me, at least).

And valuable: I came across some products which were new to me, which I shall definitely be buying for my daughter to try in the future. I can’t tell you which – or even which category – as we’ve been sworn to secrecy at least until the shortlist comes out in about ten days time. Check the Free From Food Awards site after 17th February to see who has been shortlisted – and I will let you know who are the eventual winners after the awards ceremony in April.

However, if you are part of a coeliac group – or even if you just know a few other gluten-free people – it might be worth running a tasting event yourselves, on a smaller scale. How about picking a category, and asking everyone to bring a different brand? Then prepare the products, and have a tasting session!

We did this with gluten free pizza once, when I ran a support group for coeliac children – about a decade ago now – and it was fun, though it did turn into a bit of a pizza festival for the children. You could do the same exercise with whatever you fancy, to get the chance to directly compare different products, maybe discover some new favourites – and have a chat about living gluten free at the same time.

Let me know what you discover – and do remember to look out for the Free From Food Awards shortlist this month and the winners in the spring. You might also want to check out Michelle’s FreeFromFoodsMatter site where you will find details of hundreds of gluten-free foods.

I confess I didn’t; I suppose, if anything, I’d assumed it was lots of salad… very healthy, very crunchy, but perhaps not very exciting.

However, I’ve just received a pack of crisps and brownies from Gourmet Raw, and they are delicious – and definitely gourmet! How wrong can you be?

The brownies come in various flavours – I loved the mint one best, closely followed by hazelnut, while my husband and son preferred the orange flavour. These are a little like eating chocolate truffles: rich, squodgy and very, very more-ish. Whichever the favourite, though, they’re all gone!

Some of them are carob brownies – not chocolate. I’ve always liked the taste of carob, but it can be a surprise if you’re expecting the taste of chocolate, so bear that in mind. Others are cacao (which goes into chocolate and cocoa). The range of flavours are: cacao cashew, cacao cocobanana, cacao mint, carob hazelnut, carob orange. Yum!

We were sent 3 flavours of crisps, too: spicy Thai, red pepper and beetroot. Given that these are raw foods (nothing cooked over 40.5C), you’ll be asking how these can possibly be crisps… and of course they’re not slices of potato cooked in high-temperature fat!

The red pepper ones, for example, are sprouted buckwheat, flaxseed, fresh red pepper, smoked paprika and lime compressed somehow into slim squares just right for dipping into your favourite dip (the red pepper ones + hummous get my vote).

I was less keen on the beetroot ones, but then I’ve never been a big fan of beetroot. However, since I’m a grown-up now, I did try them – and helped to finish the pack, too! I might even nerve up and try beetroot as a vegetable…

Gourmet Raw are based in Shepton Mallet, but you can buy their products from a range of stockists in the south of England – or from their online shop. And they’ve kindly provided a voucher code for you: if you quote GR004 when you buy from their online shop, you’ll get 10% off. I earn a small commission if you use this code too, so it’s good for both of us, and you get to try some excellent gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free treats.

Plus, they’re vegan. We had a gluten-free vegan friend visit us at the weekend, and I really wished I’d saved some for her – but we hadn’t been able to resist! Next time I’ll have to order some in specially for her…

If you are reading this blog, then likely you or a loved one has gluten sensitivity. Chances are, though, that you are unaware of all the different kinds of health conditions that are associated with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. Here is a list of conditions and disorders that you may not have realized are associated with a gluten sensitivity or allergy.

1. Blood deficiencies.
   An inability to absorb gluten is associated with a deficiency in many vitamins and minerals in the blood. You need to visit your doctor to take a blood test and determine if you need to start a supplemental regimen. The deficiencies range from Vitamin A to Zinc.
2. Addison’s Disease.
   People with celiac disease are 11x more likely to develop Addison’s Disease according to a Swedish study. Addison’s disease is when the adrenal glands don’t produce enough hormones causing symptoms similar to IBS, which brings me to my next point.
3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
   Symptoms of IBS include bloating, abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhea. If you experience discomfort often during the month, you should see your doctor to see if IBS is responsible.
4. Fibromyalgia.
   IBS is found in 30-70% of fibromyalgia patients. Fibromyalgia can have many symptoms that range from chronic pain and fatigue to episodes of extreme pain. There are many support groups, such as the FMS Community, that help those suffering from this illness find support.
5. Arthritis.
   Anti-connective tissue antibodies are found in increased numbers in patients with celiac disease. Arthritis is becoming more and more manageable with new drugs on the market.

As with any kind of diet or disease that affects the nutrients you receive from food, there can be widespread effects throughout your body. Don’t let this list scare you into thinking that you have any of these conditions. Talk to your doctor about your concerns in terms of your health and s/he will help you.

Lastly, living gluten-free can be a very manageable lifestyle. You don’t have to give up all your favorite foods like bread or pasta. You can buy a gluten free bread maker, gluten free flour or gluten free pasta. There are many of us living without gluten and our community can provide a lot of support.

Thanks Julia!

Julia Wisniewski has been living with Fibromyalgia her whole life. She blogs for Bready, the gluten free bread machine company, about her experiences with FM and living without gluten for GF communities. In her free time, she likes to read and her guilty pleasure is reality TV.

And I’m not at all surprised that Michelle reports enthusiasm among freefrom and gluten-free bloggers: who wouldn’t want to be involved in this?

Here’s the press release from FoodsMatter

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Judges queue up to taste-test ‘freefrom’ foods

With judging sessions for this year’s FreeFrom Food Awards set for the first week in February, expert ‘freefrom’ judges are queuing up to taste-test this year’s entries into 16 categories of freefrom foods.

Judges come from the professional food world (manufacturers, chefs and cookery writers) and from the medical world (dietitians and nutritionists) but also include allergy sufferers and coeliacs – plus some ‘normal’ food enthusiasts to benchmark the freefrom foods against their non-freefrom equivalents. This year judging ranks will also be swelled by a number of freefrom and gluten-free bloggers, all experts in tracking down new and tasty freefrom foods to write about on their blogs.

Says Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of FoodsMatter.com who chairs the judging sessions

“We have some really exciting entries this year and are particularly pleased to see that previously slender categories, such as FreeFrom Ready Meals, are positively bulging. We are also very much looking forward to tasting the offerings in our new Raw Food and Superfood category – and, of course, in our ever popular gluten-free beer category. We never have any problems recruiting judges for that one!”

A shortlist of successful entries will be published on March 1st and the winners, including the winner of the FAIR trophy of the Best FreeFrom Food 2012 (won last year by Doves Farm for their gluten-free self raising flour blend) will be announced and presented with their certificates at an invitation-only party in West India Dock on April 17th.

Find out more at: the Free From Food Awards website

The FreeFromFoodAwards 2012 are sponsored by Asda (2 categories), Delamere Dairy, Fria Gluten Free, Genius Gluten Free, Genon Laboratories , Hale & Hearty, Juvela, Livwell, Mrs Crimbles, Produced in Italy, Pure Dairy Free, Swedish Glace, Tesco (3 categories).

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The packaging that you see in the supermarkets should begin to look different. There are 3 options…

1. The new law says that food can only be called gluten-free if the food contains less than 20 parts per million of gluten.

   The previous level was 200 parts per million (ppm), which is obviously quite a lot more, and wasn’t consistent with food labelling in other countries. This new level, of no more than 20ppm is more restrictive, and should give you greater confidence in the foodstuff. That is, of course, assuming that companies are happy to label their food as ‘gluten-free’ under these new rules.

2. There is a new term: ‘very low gluten’. This covers foods which have between 21 and 100ppm of gluten.
3. And finally, there is another option: ‘no gluten-containing ingredients’. This will apply to foods that don’t contain wheat, barley or rye, and where they have reasonable cross-contamination controls in place.

These new labels should apply to food in supermarkets, restaurants and cafes: wherever you buy food.

Only you know how sensitive you are to gluten. For some people, the previous level was fine; for others, even 20ppm may prove to be too much. At least now you should have more guidance as to the real quantity of gluten in your food.

It is intended to make life better for coeliacs; it will be interesting to see how companies choose to react to this new law, and whether it is easier or harder to find gluten free food.

If you work in the food industry (catering or manufacturing) you may find the guidance available from Coeliac UK to be helpful (download guidance PDF here).