Update on fake gluten-free bakery

The celiac community in North Carolina, across the United States, and even internationally was very upset when the news surfaced of a company in North Carolina advertising its bread as gluten-free even though it wasn’t. Local celiacs helped unmask this scheme by writing about it on their blogs (such as Fred from Juno Nutrition whose tests revealed the bread did contain gluten). Since the company was subsequently shut and and since Custom Choice Cereal tries to look at the bright side of things, we looked at the potential positive long-term effects of this de-facto enforcement of gluten-free labeling in January.

A very active local celiac who writes the blog Gluten Free Raleigh provided a great summary of the court hearing on Great Specialty Products and its owner Mr. Seelig that took place on February 2 here in Raleigh. During a meeting of the local chapter of the Celiac Sprue Association that took place last, representatives of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services were so kind to give an update on the case. We try to summarize the most important take-aways below.

• They thanked the celiac community because without them this would not have been possible – from bringing the case to their attention, to testifying in court, to increasing the number of complaints, local celiacs played a crucial role
• Great Specialty Products has been shut down, and the website has been taken offline
• Please do NOT consume any products you might still have at home!
• A Preliminary Injunction is in effect, and while the word “preliminary” might sound like this measure might expire or be temporary, it does in fact mean that additional legal action is required to remove it
• Complaints keep coming in (including one from Iowa on Wednesday). If you purchased bread or other bakery products from Great Specialty Products - especially in January 2010 – and have not already done so, please contact the NCDA&CS
• Anonymous complaints can be filed and have the same weight, the only difference is that the filer won’t be contacted

The next court date is set for February 24th, and we will definitely keep you posted on what will happen then.