Custom Choice Cereal needs to inform you that GFN Foods is recalling certain lots of the following gluten-free baking mixes because they could be contaminated with salmonella:

• Gluten-Free Naturals Pancake Mix – UPC 187058 000043
  Lots 09159 (expires 12/8/2010), 09320 (expires 5/16/12) and 09322 (expires 5/18/12)
• Gluten-Free Naturals Light & Moist Yellow Cake Mix – UPC 187058 000067
  Lots 09083 (expires 9/24/10) and 09322 (expires 5/18/12)
• Gluten-Free Naturals Cookie Blend Flour – UPC 187058 000029
  Lots 09086 (expires 6/24/10), 09219 (expires 11/7/10) and 10035 (expires 5/4/11)

These mixes were sold online and in stores in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the country. GFN Foods stated that this is a voluntary recall triggered by sourcing a soy flour from a company called Thumb Oilseed Producers Cooperative. At this company, traces of salmonella were found on a non-processing surface during an FDA inspection. No salmonella was found in the flour or on the actual processing equipment.

Please make sure you have a look at the lists and check your cabinet for any of the products mentioned!

Custom Choice Cereal came across a great resource providing nutrition information and access to registered dietitians that we absolutely had to share with you. The website of the American Dietetic Association is very well organized and provides a wealth of guidelines and advice on how to eat right. It is their mission is to provide “Food and Nutrition Information You Can Trust”.

We were especially intrigued by a particular service they provide: finding a registered dietitian in your area. The search mask allows you to filter by zip code or State, a certain mile radius, and also gives an option to specify the service you are looking for (individual consultation, group consultation or programs/workshops). Custom Choice Cereal thought that the best part is the selection of 26 “specialties”, including

• Alternative Nutrition
• Digestive Disorders
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/Disorders
• Celiac Disease
• Diabetes/Hypoglycemia
• Food Allergies/Intolerances
• Weight Control
• Sports Nutrition

Search results display names, addresses, phone numbers, areas of expertise, a list of services provided and languages the services are offered in. Overall a great site that we highly recommend!

Of course Custom Choice Cereal is also on twitter.com where we can be found under the name @CustomCereal. Some of the people we follow are very active tweeters, and we actually learn quite a lot of interesting news on celiac disease, gluten-intolerances, living gluten-free, and most of all new gluten-free recipes from them.

Our twitter friend @eadibleASH writes the blog the edible perspective with tons of delicious recipes and product pictures that make you want to bite your computer screen! She does not follow a gluten-free diet, so we were very excited when Ashley reviewed our custom gluten-free cereal. She had her gluten-free cereal mix on Friday when she unfortunately woke up with a “crazy pain in her neck” – we can only hope our breakfast treat provided some relief and that she feels better soon!

The mix that Ashley cerealized contained Good Morning Flakes as a base and to which she added apricots, goji berries, almonds, coconut and walnuts. She was “really happy with the amount of fruit + nuts that was in the mix”.

Thanks Ashley, we’re glad you enjoyed your custom gluten-free cereal!

Custom Choice Cereal pointed out less than a month ago that one of the few gluten-free summer camps in the US is located in our beautiful State of North Carolina. Camp Kanata’s gluten-free week this year will be from June 27 to July 3. If you are interested in this for your child(ren) you should act quickly since the camp is usually booked by late February!

This being said we feel the need to share some very interesting research findings from the University of California San Francisco’s Department of Pediatrics. These might serve as an encouragement to (re-)enroll your child(ren) in a gluten-free summer camp this summer. A brief summary of the research report was printed in the online version of Pediatrics, The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The research team asked 104 children with celiac disease aged 7 to 17 to answer a survey consisting of 14 questions, and 77 of them completed the questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of a week at a gluten-free summer camp. The results were astonishing:

• All children felt improvement in well-being, self-perception, and emotional outlook
• None felt different from other kids or frustrated by their diet
• Campers on a gluten-free diet for less than 4 years reported improvements in 11 of the 14 questions
• The positive effects were more pronounced in children who had been on a gluten-free diet for less than 4 years versus those who had been gluten-free for longer

While the long-term effects need further investigation, the study concludes that “stress and anxiety around food and social interactions” can at least temporarily be alleviated by the safe environment of a gluten-free summer camp.

When Custom Choice Cereal was in the process of setting up our gluten-free facility and operations in June 2009, we posted about calling manufacturers of different cleaning supplies to make sure they are gluten-free. To our own shock we had to find out back then that a lot of them actually contained wheat, and it made us realize that “this stuff really is everywhere”.

We are not trying to sound too schizophrenic, but at the end of the day we need to ensure for your safety that our facility truly is gluten-free. Along the same lines your dish soap at your homes is in direct contact with utensils that you subsequently use to consume food. If your dishes are porous there actually might be a danger that the dish soap you use cross-contaminates the food with wheat (= gluten). Granted the likelihood of this happening is small, but if you or your child(ren) have an extreme case of celiac disease you cannot be careful enough.

We therefore only use Mrs. Meyer’s Household Cleaners. The following is an encouraging statement that we copied from the company’s website:

All cleaners work really well and are available through the website or at Target. Our conclusion: great product and highly recommended at least for dish soap if you want to be on the safe side. If this is a concern of yours or if you use another product, please let us know and leave a comment!

There are two sides to everything, and Custom Choice Cereal likes to look at the positive side of what if confirmed is a rather nasty incident that happened right here in the Triangle in North Carolina. Some of you probably came across the newspaper article about a company selling gluten-free bread that might in fact have turned out not to be gluten-free.

Several people with celiac disease who purchased the bread at the NC State Fair in Raleigh last year said they showed their typical celiac symptoms like rashes and bowel movements. The rash Rebecca Fernandez’ pre-school aged son developed are captured in a movie at MyNC.com. Blogger Fred Lybrand also tested seven loafs of the supposedly gluten-free bread and tested them for gluten. All of his tests came back positive.

The owner of the company claims that if his bread really had been gluten-contaminated he would have received many more complaints. While he is presumed innocent until proven guilty this is a bad argument as not all celiacs necessarily show symptoms despite damage being done to their small intestine.

Taking their job very seriously, the NCDA&CS filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order against the company. While we are saddened that this incident happened in “our” State, it also sets a precedent for the de-facto enforcement of gluten-free labeling. Custom Choice Cereal thinks this is good news! It is also a good reminder to constantly read labels, coordinate with other celiacs in your respective communities, and to speak up!

As many of you probably know from experience, baking without gluten can be a challenge because the gluten protein is responsible for making dough elastic and stretchy. It also traps gas in baked goods which results in a light, airy structure.

Custom Choice Cereal wrote about the most important take-aways from a celiac support group meeting that we attended in our blog entry Celiac disease & gluten-free diet options. But speaker Lesley Stanford from the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center also shared a short guide on gluten-free baking. The guide was compiled by the Colorado State University Extension, a center that offers “reliable, research-based information to help you make informed decisions”.

The guide includes

• an overview of gluten replacement products and their qualities
• gluten-free flour blend formulations
• advice on gums and binders (eggs are the most common binder in
  gluten-free baking)
• tips on how to increase moisture, enhance flavor/structure/texture

Whether you’ve had trouble baking gluten-free or are an expert, we highly recommend you download by clicking on the picture below.  It’s definitely worthwhile to print and have it handy in the kitchen at all times!

Custom Choice Cereal is very excited to be featured in today’s version of Durham’s Herald-Sun!

The article mentions some of the mix names that you have given your gluten-free cereal creations, commenting that “some of the monikers may have an intended levity, but the product that Custom Choice Cereal is marketing is serious food for people diagnosed with celiac disease, or customers who have allergies to gluten.” We’d like to add that customizing your personal cereal is fun for anyone, and reducing your gluten intake certainly does not hurt, either.

You can read the entire article here or by clicking on the picture below.

After some emails, Custom Choice Cereal finally met with Zach, author of the blog Gluten Free Raleigh and great fountain of knowledge on all things about celiac disease and living gluten-free in the Triangle (and beyond). He gave us one of the simplest and most efficient tips for shopping gluten-free we’ve ever come across, and since the simplicity of his advice is so beautiful (and we care about you), we absolutely had to share this with you.

“Shop (only) along the perimeter of the grocery store!”

We never thought about it this way, but it is so true: it is easy to do, you find all the essentials, and by all likelihood you automatically tend to buy more fresh produce (and thus eat healthier). Happy shopping!

Custom Choice Cereal has been wanting to write about this great social networking website for a while now. Adding this to our list of New Year’s resolutions apparently helped…

Gluten-Free Faces is a great website that allows anyone interested in or already on a gluten-free diet to connect with people from the gluten-free community. The functionality is obviously similar to facebook – by the way, if you have not done so already, feel free to become a fan of Custom Choice Cereal on facebook – but there is more. We especially like the very active discussion forum where members talk about food safety, gluten tests, celiac disease, symptoms, recommendations, etc. because it is a great resource for anyone new to the gluten-free lifestyle.

Other features include gluten-free recipes, resources with links to gluten-free information and products, events, and videos. We suggest you definitely check it out. Just click on the picture below, and you are directed straight to our presence on Gluten Free Faces!