As most people who suffer from wheat/gluten intollerance know, despite their best intentions cooks without a proper knowledge of the hidden ingredients don’t realize that the food they are preparing could be riddled with harmful allergens.

For example,  unless they are labeled as G-F, soya  and worcestershire sauces generally contain wheat.  Therefore a rice dish that calls for soy could be potentially harmful.

I provided a co-worker with a list of items that should be avoided, unless you have identified them as being G-F:

Artificial Color
Baking Powder
Caramel Color
Caramel Flavoring
Clarifying Agents
Coloring
Dextrins
Dextrimaltose
Diglycerides
Dry Roasted Nuts
Emulsifiers
Fat Replacer
Flavoring
Food Starch
Food Starch Modified
Glucose Syrup
Glycerides
Gravy Cubes
Ground Spices
HPP
HVP
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate
Hydroxypropylated Starch
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Miso
Mixed Tocopherols
Modified Food Starch
Modified Starch
Mono and Diglycerides
Monoglycerides
Natural Flavoring
Natural Flavors
Natural Juices
Non-dairy Creamer
Pregelatinized Starch
Protein Hydrolysates
Seafood Analogs
Seasonings
Sirimi
Smoke Flavoring
Soba Noodles
Soy Sauce
Soy Sauce Solids
Sphingolipids
Stabilizers
Starch
Stock Cubes
Suet
Tocopherols
Vegetable Broth
Vegetable Gum
Vegetable Protein
Vegetable Starch
Vitamins
Wheat Starch

She was a bit shocked, but she finally understood why I was hesitant to try her baking.

Anything that uses generic terms such as “plant”, “starch” or “vegetable” should be avoided, since they could be anything from corn, potatoe, wheat, soy, etc. or combinations thereof.  Unless it specifies the type of plant (i.e. hydrolized corn protein) avoid consumption!

However, if you are only mildly intollerant you may find that trace amounts found in food colorings or binding agents don’t bother you that much.

The list above is in no way comprehensive.  There are litterally HUNDREDS of items you should watch out for.  For a better list, visit:

http://celiac-disease.com/food-ingredients-that-contain-gluten/

If you have time to ask for something in advance, Opera Bistro will make G-F baked goods.  Cochrane’s Market in Rothesay will also bake G-F items on special request. But if you’re looking for something in a rush then unfortunately it will be  a thawed box of donuts or a pie from the Super Store!

A good back-up is to buy a cake/cookie mix from the Super Store.  They have a great selection: everything from brownies to pie crust, cookies to cake mixes (in every variety!).  Kids can’t tell the difference and with a good recipe most grown-ups can’t either!

One of my favorites: carrot cake using the Glutino Spice Cake mix.  Follow the directions but add a small tin of crushed pineapple (drained) and about 1 cup of grated carrots to the mix before baking. Some people may also like a 1/2 cup of raisins or 1/4 cup of nuts thrown in.  Top the cooked cake with a homemade creamcheese icing – DIVINE!!!  And the fruit helps to keep things moist a few days longer.

If you’re looking to make things from scratch (i.e. no cake mix), then the Bulk Barn will be your best friend.  They have the largest variety of G-F flours.  And since you can get as much or as little as you want, you get the chance to buy small quantities and experiment before you invest in a whole bag of brown rice or soy flour.  Some flours claim that they can be substituted cup-for-cup like regular wheat based (all purpose) flour, but you don’t end up with the same texture.  Sorghum, Tapioca Starch and Xanthum gum are good stabilizers that help G-F foods keep their “stickiness” and not crumble or fall apart.  So if you have a recipe that calls for 1/8 tsp of the stuff, trust the recipe – it’s not quite the same without it!

There is a limited selection at Sobeys, and it is mostly dry goods such as crackers, pasta, commercial cookies and cake mixes.  The Sobeys on the West Side does have a small section with frozen baked goods such as breads, microwave dinner and muffins, but I have not found these items at other Sobeys locations in Saint John (North End or East Side).

The Super Store on Rothesay Avenue is by far the meca of gluten free shopping!  With the exception of meat and vegetables, I don’t have to leave the natural food section to meet my diatery needs.  G-F cereals, frozen baked goods in abundance, plus many varieties of snacks, baking mixes, etc.  I also find the prices at Super Store are better than Sobeys: 1/2 dozen G-F donuts for example, $5.99 at Super Store v.s. $6.99 at Sobeys.  I will, however, mention that the maple glazed donuts at Sobeys West are worth the extra dollar!

Shoppers Drug Mart has also started carrying some Glutino brand items: pasta, cookies, frozen dinners.  But if you thought Sobeys was bad you should see the prices at Shoppers: I’ve seen items marked up as much as 50%!  However, it’s about the only place you can get a few key items on Sunday a.m.

While the burger and grilled chicken patties are gluten free, the grill and utensiles they are cooked with are not.  Hello cross-contamination! So depending on your sensitivity level you may or may not be able to eat the patties.

McDonalds does have one of the only GF breakfast options available from a fast food restaurant: their Big Breakfast (ask for it without the English Muffin).

They also have a 16 page ingredients list where you have to look up each individual item (i.e. for a salad you need to know which salad and each of the individual contents so you can cross reference with the list).  It would be very helpful if they would follow the lead of Wendys and a few other restaurants and identify items containing common allergens rather than make you sift through pages of ingredients.

Due to their only having 2 gluten free items on the list and not offering better allergen information, I am catagorizing McDonalds as Unfriendly.

Some of Wendy’s establishments have nutritional information and common allergens posted inside the restaurant, others have a copy “somewhere behind the counter” if the staff can find it…

Your best bet is to download a copy of their Gluten Free List from their website

http://www.wendys.com/food/pdf/ca/gluten_free_list.pdf

The fact that Wendy’s even has this list further solidifies them as the MOST GF friendly Franchise in Canada.

The down side: no GF dessert options except for specialty coffees and the rootbeer float.

Best Ale House story: I was having lunch with a friend who was eating mussels.  While trying to pry (a particularly stubborn) one of the slippery delicacies out of its shell, she managed to fling it onto my plate.  I am also allergic to seafood, making the dish now inedible. The server was very gracious and replaced my meal – at no cost.

While I normally complain if I get bad customer service, you can’t fault a place whose image is based around scantily clad waitresses, lots of booze, and getting the cold shoulder.

Having said that, while I do enjoy a Friday afternoon drink with the boys, Rocky’s is not the place to go if you’re hungry.  Good luck getting an ingredients list or expecting any kind of special food preparation!

Worst experience: I asked for a chicken ceasar salad but without croutons.  They brought me a salad from which they had picked out the croutons.

Ah well, I should have known better!  Look where I was trying to dine…

- no substitutions
- no allergy menu
- no knowledge of ingredients

I have been served food that was still frozen in the middle.  I have had a waitress forget to bring me portions of my meal. I have yet to dine there and not have bad customer service or a decent meal.

While my non-allergy friends rave about the food and atmosphere, I DO NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone with a food allergy.  (It isn’t a bad spot to go for a coctail – just be sure to have eaten before you go).

I have multiple food allergies, which makes my choices a bit more limited.  I found a dish that seemed interesting but could not have the accompanying side.  Their NO SUBSTITUTIONS policy is not only inconvenient but can get expensive: if you don’t want the side specified they are willing to omit it (without reducing the cost for the meal) and give you something else at an additional charge.

So although they have an allergy menu I am going to have to put Swiss Chalet in the Unfriendly category since they won’t accommodate food allergies by allowing substitutions.

The upside: they have an Allergy Menu that lists all the most common allergy items such as Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Nuts, Eggs, etc.  This is very helpful, especially if you have multiple food allergies. Although I have had the experience where the Allergy Menu was “misplaced” and the waitress didn’t really seam to care…thankfully the manager took my needs a bit more seriously (the binder was quickly found once I had to hunt it down).

The down side: the only GF friendly dessert is the Boston Pizza after-dinner Mint.  But you can enjoy a nice specialty coffee with whipped cream and liqueurs

Obviously Pizza and Pasta are out, but you can enjoy everything from pub fare such as chicken wings, ribs and nachos, to entrées such as steak, chicken and fish.  They also have a few great salads for lighter fare.   But be careful of the side accompaniments:  I told the server I was gluten-intolerant and asked for a spinach salad with an alternate dressing and no garlic toast.  They made the salad correctly but slapped a piece of garlic toast right on the top!  (The chef was working out of habit and not paying attention to the allergy warning.) The waitress apologized and had a new salad made – sans toast.

Another important note: BP is willing to substitute if you have an allergy.  I LOVE their Cactus Cut Nachos but am allergic to the Cactus Dip (contains fish).  They have always allowed me to substitue for Guacamole.  Usually Guacamole is an extra and you are charged an additional cost – but I have yet to have someone charge me for the substitution at  BP in SJ.  This is an exception as compared to most restaurants.