Domino’s brought their gluten-free pizza crust to Canada this month, but they present customers with this disclaimer when you try to order the pizza:

Domino’s pizza made with a Gluten Free Crust is prepared in a common kitchen with the risk of gluten exposure. Therefore, Domino’s DOES NOT recommend this pizza for customers with celiac disease. Customers with gluten sensitivities should exercise judgment in consuming this pizza.

Right now we don’t know if small amounts of gluten are a problem for people with gluten sensitivity, the CCA does not recommend that anyone with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity consume pizzas from Domino’s.

According to company spokesman Barry Langhodge, the crust is gluten-free but they are NOT selling a gluten-free pizza. The crust is made in a dedicated gluten-free facility. It arrives at the restaurant individually wrapped and ready to cook from scratch, but there are no practices in place to avoid cross-contamination as the toppings are added, the pizza is cooked, and the pizza is boxed up.

The CCA hopes to work with the company to develop policies that will allow them to sell a gluten-free pizza, not just a gluten-free crust.

Celiac Camp is the first known overnight camp in the Maritimes for youth who live with celiac disease. Brigadoon invited a Clinical Dietitian to work with our Executive Chef to ensure that all dietary restrictions of campers were considered when preparing the exclusive nut-free and gluten-free menus for breakfast, snacks, and dinner.

At the end of the clip (about 3:55), the kids talk about the fact that they didn’t have to worry about the food and could just enjoy their camp activities. Thanks to the Nova Scotia chapter for helping make this happen.

PHOTO – Canadian Celiac Association representatives presented the official certification to Marc Guay at the September 27 PFC Leadership Team Meeting. Left to right: Anne Marie Renaud – PFC VP Supply Chain, Lori Alexander – PFC Manager of Nutrition Science & Regulatory Affairs, Marc Guay – PFC President, Peter Taylor – Executive Director, Canadian Celiac Association, Paul Valder, President, Allergen Control Group, Randy Kaplan – PFC Director of Nutrition Science & Regulatory Affairs.

In spring 2012, Lay’s Potato Chips were officially certified gluten free through the Canadian Celiac Association. The claim, “Gluten Free”, can be found on the back of Lay’s packaging which means that the production of these potato chips meets the requirements of the Canadian Celiac Association’s ‘Gluten-Free Certification Program’. Lay’s potato chips are the first product in Canada to be certified by this program.

“At PepsiCo Canada, listening to and understanding the needs of our consumers is a top priority for our brands given the increased level of awareness of the ingredients in the foods we eat,” said Lori Alexander, Manager of Nutrition Science & Regulatory Affairs, PepsiCo Canada. “We are so excited that Canadians with gluten concerns can continue to enjoy their favourite potato chips without hesitation.”

So what’s most important to know about Lay’s potato chips that are gluten free? There is absolutely no difference in taste! The majority of Lay’s potato chips have always been gluten free and will continue to be gluten free and as such, taste just great. Any Lay’s potato chip flavours that have been certified gluten free have met the brand’s high standards for quality and deliver the same great taste Canadians expect from the Lay’s brand.

“There are so many Canadians who are either affected by Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance or follow a gluten free diet, and the impact this has on their day-to-day lifestyle is not something that is obvious to everyone,” said Brian Benwell, president, Canadian Celiac Association. “It’s incredible to see well-loved brands such as Lay’s making this step towards gluten free in order to give Canadians more options to choose from, making their lives a bit less complicated!”

Here’s an interesting definition of Gluten Sensitivity from Dr. Alessio Fasano.

“We use the term gluten sensitivity when celiac disease, wheat allergy, and other clinically-overlapping diseases (Type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases and Helicobacter pylori infection) have been ruled out. Symptoms in gluten sensitivity are triggered by gluten exposure and alleviated by gluten withdrawal.”

He goes on to comment on some of the symptom differences between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. There is a lot of overlap in this list with the symptoms of celiac disease.

“In gluten sensitivity, there is often a prevalence of extraintestinal instead of gastrointestinal symptoms, including behavioral changes, skin rash, bone or joint pain, muscle cramps, leg numbness, weight loss, “foggy mind,” and fatigue. Typical gastrointestinal symptoms include abdominal bloating and gas.”

Finally, he describes his way of diagnosing the problem right now.

Typically, the diagnosis is made by exclusion, and an elimination diet and “open challenge” — we carefully reintroduce foods with gluten — are most often used to evaluate whether the patient’s health improves with the elimination or reduction of gluten from the diet.

There is still a lot of work to do in defining gluten sensitivity, but at least physicians are now starting to look at the problem.

Full Interview in the Huffington Post.

I’ve been looking for some good “back to school” tips to share with some anxious parents this week and realized that the number one tip is appropriate for all of us, whether we are heading back to school or are all grown up and continuing with work:

“Allow students to use the restroom to wash their hands whenever necessary. It is
important that they use soap and water, not just hand sanitizer. The sanitizer is good
on germs but does not eliminate gluten.”

You don’t need to be afraid to touch gluten-containing items in the day to day world – gluten reside can be washed off – but we will all be healthier by consistently washing our hands after dealing with gluten-based products and again before eating.

School is one of the situations where children with celiac disease learn to function in the real world. Their learning will be a gradual thing, but most school age children already understand “gluten makes your tummy hurt” and are ready to tackle the challenge of keeping themselves safe, with some help from their teacher and parents.

Here’s an article for parents about helping keep your child safe in the classroom. Please share other articles you have found that were helpful.

Allergen Friendly Classroom

Sue N

P.S. I also really liked the idea of using a placemat to separate your food from any residue left on the tables. My Mom always sent an extra napkin for us to use as a disposable placemat, long before we dealt with celiac disease.

CCA Professional Advisory Board Member Dr. Vern Burrows has been honoured with a statue for his work in China.

Dr. Burrows is a retired plant scientist from Ottawa who specializes in oats. He joined the CCA’s PAB to help define the protocols for creating pure, uncontaminated oats that are safe for people with celiac disease. He has also encouraged cultivation of “naked” or hull-less oats that are much easier to separate from any contaminating wheat or barley kernels.

Dr. Burrows has been working with scientists in China to develop varieties of oats that work well in areas with a high level of salt, soil conditions that are not normally good for growing crops.

To read more about the statue and Dr. Burrow’s work in China, check this article from the Ottawa Citizen.

Congratulations to the CCA Edmonton Chapter for raising funds and awareness with their Ride Walk Run for Celiac on Sunday August 12th.

Check out CTV video coverage of the event.

When I hear a comment about someone finding wheat or gluten in a product category that doesn’t match what I have seen, I usually head to my local grocery store. Today the comment was about wheat in canned kidney beans – something I’ve never seen – so I checked it out.

The quick summary: the only canned bean product I saw with any gluten warnings was canned lentils that carried a “may contain wheat” warning. This matches the common experience of finding wheat in some packages of dry lentils. All the other canned beans I found, including brown beans, did not have any ingredients or warnings that would cause me concern.

More details: I checked all the variety of beans I could find in several grocery stores. This included several brands prepared to meet the tastes of a variety of ethnic groups. The brands I checked were: Unico, No Name(yellow), PC Blue, Mr. Gouda, Complements, Stokely, NuPak, Grace, Cedar, Surat, and Ferma.

All of the cans of beans or mixed beans (not including baked beans or bean salad) contained the beans, water and salt. Many carried various additives as preservatives or acid regulators: calcium choloride, citric acid, EDTA, sodium benzoate.

Three brands of lentils carried a “may contain wheat” warning. It is common to find bits of wheat and other foreign grains in dry lentils, and this probably reflects the same concerns.

I did not find any gluten in any of the baked bean brands I checked either, but that product category has a wider variety of ingredients, depending on the flavour and brand. You might find malt vinegar, soy sauce or even wheat flour as an ingredient in certain types.

My recommendations from this shopping trip? Be wary of lentils and always check the ingredient lists, but don’t be overly concerned about gluten in canned beans.

Sue Newell
Canadian Celiac Association

You may have noticed a recall this week for a Whole Wheat Bread product because of undeclared gluten ingredients. A number of people reported reading the report, and then going back to see if they missed something.

Odd, yes, but the recall system worked exactly as it was supposed to. The bread manufacturer failed to include barley and oats in the ingredient list, so the product was recalled because of undeclared gluten sources. This is exactly what the food safety program is designed to allow to happen.

The great news is that the risk of someone with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease becoming ill because of accidental gluten ingestion is basically zero. The recall class, three, reflected the low risk of anyone being harmed by the product.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to wheat and sensitivities to gluten not to consume the Healthy Times brand Brown Rice Cereal for Baby described below. The affected product may contain wheat or gluten which is not declared on the label.

This allergy alert was initially issued on July 26, 2011. The CFIA is re-issuing this alert as affected product may still be in the marketplace.

The affected product, Healthy Times brand Brown Rice Cereal for Baby, product of USA, is sold in 6 oz (170 g) packages bearing UPC 0 48685 02188 0 and one of the following code combinations:

Lot 14211 with a USE BY date of 01 MAY 2013
Lot 17011 with a USE BY date of 30 MAY 2013

CFIA is working with the Canadian importers to have the affected product removed from the marketplace.

For full details, visit the CFIA web site.