Oct 27, 2010

My 200th Blog Post: Looking Back, New Favorite Foods, and an Important Jennie-O Alert

I can’t believe this is my 200th blog post, and it has been almost 2 years since I started blogging in December 2008! It is amazing how much has changed in the gluten-free world in the past two years. If you also count my DC Gluten-Free Examiner articles and my Gluten-Free Social Media Tips blog posts, that adds up to over 360 gluten-free articles! So, what gluten-free news did I blog about in December 2008?

• Chicago Tribune investigation found high amounts of gluten in "gluten-free" Wellshire Farms chicken bites & corn dogs.

• Emeril Green aired three gluten-free episodes in Fall 2008 on Planet Green.

• The regular price of Rice Chex at Target was only $1.67.

• Gluten-Free Fox, the first gluten-free search engine, was launched.

One of my first blog posts was a funny one: My own “You know you have celiac disease if…” list. Some of the items are a little outdated now, but I hope some of them are still funny.

In January 2011, it will be four years since I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I definitely have a more positive outlook about gluten-free and life in general than when I first started blogging and a big part of that is the amazing online gluten-free community!

My list of favorite foods that I first posted in December 2008 and last updated in October 2009 is also outdated. Here are some of my new favorite foods.

• Udi’s Gluten-Free whole grain bread

• Udi’s granola

• Deboles corn pasta

• Nature’s Path Sunrise Cereals

• Chobani Greek Yogurt

• Larabar Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

KIND Pomegranate Blueberry Pistachio plus Antioxidants

• Gluten-Free Café Pasta Primavera

• Food Should Taste Good Cheddar Chips

Sadly, one item that I intended to include on this list was Jennie-O Turkey Meatballs Italian Style, which used be clearly marked on the website with the no gluten icon. When I went to the website today to link to it, I discovered the new red packaging and that the no gluten icon had been removed. I called and it turns out that the new bags have new ingredients that now include oat bran. They aren’t gluten-free and have been removed from the Hormel gluten-free list. I really hope I can still find some of the old bags that are gluten-free.


As some things change over the years in the gluten-free world, some things remain the same. It is essential to always keep reading labels each time you purchase a product!

2 comments:

Stephen said...

congratulations!
stephen
glutenfreeways.com

Heather Jacobsen said...

It is so true about reading the labels! I used to eat Ezekial bread because I was told that sprouted wheat does not contain gluten. I ate the bread for years. Then all of a sudden they started putting wheat gluten in it! My worst enemy!!! No wonder I was sick. I had been eating it for months with the wheat gluten in it, without ever realizing it.... yes, always read labels.