Australians And New Zealanders Hellooooooo :)

[anabananakins]

They did the same thing for me too- ended up being a pancake type thing - although they did taste good. Ive got the donuts in the pantry so I'll let you know.

Did you mean the 'patties' lamingtons anna? If so they are delish- heated up in the microwave - you'd never know they weren't wheat!

Yep, those are the ones! So yummy. Plus they are such an aussie thing and since I already had to give up vegemite, weetbix and milo, it's nice to have something that doesn't make me feel like I should hand over my aussie passport :-)

I haven't tried anything else in their range though.

[beebs]

Yep, those are the ones! So yummy. Plus they are such an aussie thing and since I already had to give up vegemite, weetbix and milo, it's nice to have something that doesn't make me feel like I should hand over my aussie passport :-)

I haven't tried anything else in their range though.

i've tried the sausage rolls, pizza things and meat pies. Not a great fan to be honest!

[Saz]

I don't feel so bad now. I'm certainly not about to get an traineeship in one of Jamie Olivers' restaurants but I can do more than steak and veg. At least I usually manage to end up with something that resembles what I was trying to cook- especially when it's out of a packet.

I tried the donuts, they were tasty. Just don't try to skimp the oil, or they will burn a bit.

[Saz]

Be careful of the new coles branded icecream. I looked at the bubblegum one today. If you read the ingredients listing the only suspect thing is wheat glucose syrup. It does have flavours and thickeners etc in it but nothing to say gluten in brackets after it.

Then underneath the ingredients list it says contains wheat (glucose syrup) followed by other warnings such as milk etc.

However if you turn to to look at the other side of the carton it says Allergy information: contains gluten.

I guess it wouldn't be a problem if the gluten bit was listed in the contains statement or if whatever ingredients has the gluten in was in the ingredients listing. Eg. Flavours (contains gluten) like you see on some of them. Just that assuming I read it correctly and also understand the labeling law correctly by reading just the one side, it would seem to be gluten free.

I did also look at the chocolate banana one as well and that had barley clearly labeled in the ingredients list.

If I'm wrong as far as reading labels please correct me because other wise I may have been accidently eating gluten. I'm not sensitive so I have to eat a lot of something before I get ill.

And since we are on the topic of ice cream, which ones does everyone eat? I've noticed lots of new ones around recently but I don't like getting frozen fingers trying to figure out which ones are ok.

[beebs]

Be careful of the new coles branded icecream. I looked at the bubblegum one today. If you read the ingredients listing the only suspect thing is wheat glucose syrup. It does have flavours and thickeners etc in it but nothing to say gluten in brackets after it.

Then underneath the ingredients list it says contains wheat (glucose syrup) followed by other warnings such as milk etc.

However if you turn to to look at the other side of the carton it says Allergy information: contains gluten.

I guess it wouldn't be a problem if the gluten bit was listed in the contains statement or if whatever ingredients has the gluten in was in the ingredients listing. Eg. Flavours (contains gluten) like you see on some of them. Just that assuming I read it correctly and also understand the labeling law correctly by reading just the one side, it would seem to be gluten free.

I did also look at the chocolate banana one as well and that had barley clearly labeled in the ingredients list.

If I'm wrong as far as reading labels please correct me because other wise I may have been accidently eating gluten. I'm not sensitive so I have to eat a lot of something before I get ill.

And since we are on the topic of ice cream, which ones does everyone eat? I've noticed lots of new ones around recently but I don't like getting frozen fingers trying to figure out which ones are ok.

Dodgy alright- I actually think that we should complain about that - labelling laws here are very strict - and it seems they are trying to be a bit dodgy about it.

At the moment I am eating Bulla real dairy ice cream vanilla (not the smooth and creamy which I have heard is gluten-free as well) . Weis is gluten free as are magnums, except of course anything with cookie.

[beebs]

I just a tried a mexican restaurant the other night in Glebe and it was DIVINE! very authentic, everything including their torillas and corn chips made on the premises. They are gluten free friendly, and there were only two things that I couldn't order off the menu - they change some stuff about to make sure its gluten-free so make sure you mention that you are gluten-free....well worth a visit for the strawberry sangria alone! They are called Fajita Sistas and are on glebe point road. I am not used to having so much choice that it took me about half an hour to decide what to have!!

[come dance with me]

A lot will say contains gluten if it has wheat glucose in it because they don't want to take the chance of cross contamination. That's what they told me anyway!

[mushroom]

Hub bought some ice cream labelled New Zealand Natural (he is not a good label reader ) which after all lthe good things it stated it contained said that it was manufactured from New Zealand and "imported" ingredients and then proceeded to state that it could contain soy, wheat and nuts -- in other words, they didn't have the foggiest what those imported ingredients contained

[Saz]

A lot will say contains gluten if it has wheat glucose in it because they don't want to take the chance of cross contamination. That's what they told me anyway!

Yea I guess the issue with this one is that the contains bit underneath the ingredients list said contains wheat (glucose syrup). They way the ingredients list is written, this implies that the only wheat/gluten ingredient is the glucose syrup. Which would make it gluten free.

Then as i mentioned in the first post the allergy statement on the other side says contains gluten. This could mean one of the flavours or thickeners contains the gluten, unlike glucose syrup, if made from wheat grain these are not gluten free. I checked again today and I'm now positive I read the ingredients list correctly.

All they would need to do is to say from gluten/wheat next to whichever thing it is, or underneath say it contains gluten and wheat.

Like I said the banana one had something derived from barley and this was clear in the actual ingredients list. With the banana one the allergy list was also on the other side of the carton but it doesn't matter because gluten is in the ingredients listing.

Because of the way the banana (and others in their range) are listed I really don't think they were deliberately trying to dupe anyone. I think the email is a good idea beebs- any of idea who I should send it to? I'm not very good with these things.

[Saz]

I ended up submitting feedback on their website. I'm not sure I will get a reply. I will be a bit embarrassed if they write back and say I missed something obvious in the ingredients list

[anabananakins]

A lot will say contains gluten if it has wheat glucose in it because they don't want to take the chance of cross contamination. That's what they told me anyway!

I usually find Coles labelling really good because they declare the glucose syrup (wheat) but then in the "Contains" section it'll just say "milk". I like that because it shows they know that the glucose syrup is ok. I don't eat icecream where it says the glucose syrup (wheat) bit and then in the "contains" section it says "wheat" because I get concerned that there's some cross contamination they've not gone into detail about since they've already said it contains wheat.

That's a bit sneaky Saz and I'm glad you followed up. My icecream of choice is cadbury's vanilla. I think it has liquid sugar rather than glucose syrup from wheat? Not that I have a problem with the glucose syrup but I think the cadbury's one has no funny ingredients to freak out my family members (you train them to look for wheat, it just confuses them to have to then think about the exceptions. I've had cafes tell me I can't have icecream in milkshakes and I think it's because they see syrup warning).

I had a similar issue with Old El Paso's fajita seasoning mix (note to US members - our Old El Paso range is different to yours). They changed the ingredients earlier this year and at first I was so excited that they'd maybe removed the wheat from it. I called to clarify and the guy told me I shouldn't eat it because it has soy sauce. But it didn't have a soy sauce (contains wheat) warning, it just said contains soy. But he said soy sauce has wheat so I shouldn't eat it. I don't know if that's just him using general knowledge? I haven't checked the packet since but if any of you remember to have a look I'd be interested in what you think. I eat the taco seasoning one all the time with no problems, but I really, really miss the fajita one!

[anabananakins]

I just a tried a mexican restaurant the other night in Glebe and it was DIVINE! very authentic, everything including their torillas and corn chips made on the premises. They are gluten free friendly, and there were only two things that I couldn't order off the menu - they change some stuff about to make sure its gluten-free so make sure you mention that you are gluten-free....well worth a visit for the strawberry sangria alone! They are called Fajita Sistas and are on glebe point road. I am not used to having so much choice that it took me about half an hour to decide what to have!!

Thanks beebs! I shall try it for sure. I have a friend who lives near there and we haven't had dinner out in ages.

Do you ever go to Guzman & Gomez? They are my go-to for lunch.

[beebs]

Thanks beebs! I shall try it for sure. I have a friend who lives near there and we haven't had dinner out in ages.

Do you ever go to Guzman & Gomez? They are my go-to for lunch.

Yes - I love Guzman - tasty and prob the best take away in Newtown. I assume you are near newtown is that right? So I know that when eating out we are really taking a risk with it - I guess because people don't really understand the labels etc - heck we are experts and some even confound us. But its great to hear first hand from other Coealic's about food - so if you have a favourite please share!!!

The other place I love is Atom Thai on King ST - and they have a separate Gluten free menu...man I love that!! They are yummo as well! And also Thanh Binh vietnamese- the staff are really well trained in gluten-free - and if you tell them that you are gluten-free they will tell you what you can have and the chef makes sure that he makes it suitable for us! And its delish as well:)

Saz- as for the labelling - I had that exact same thing the other day with those new marshmallow swirls - the pascal ones...so it says Glucose syrup (contains wheat) and then in the allergen statement contains Gluten....I had never seen that before because usually if its just the glucose syrup they will not put gluten in the allergen statement - DOH! I didn't eat any - I decided it wasn't worth the risk!

[Saz]

It does make it hard. With the Marshmallows maybe there was starch or a wheat derived flavours. If that's the case then they don't need to have it in brackets after as long as they say in the contains statement.

I know that some people with coeliac can't have the wheat glucose syrup but I thought that was why it's usually declared in the listing. I know that if it says contains wheat and the only thing that could be derived from it is the glucose syrup then this is what it pertains to.

So example for a chocolate: Glucose syrup (wheat), Cocoa butter, milk solids, cocoa mass.

This product contains wheat.

So this product would be gluten-free as all other ingredients are always gluten free.

Something I remember reading a few years ago is that if some ingredients are in bold then the allergen list refers to only these.

So to use the part of the above example:Glucose syrup , Cocoa butter, milk solids, cocoa mass,flavours, thickener (1442)

This product contains wheat.

So in this example the product would still be ok because it only refers to what's in bold. If however the flavours or thickeners had been in bold then it wouldn't be ok.

Has anyone ever heard this before?

I know we have some of the strictest rules but sometimes I wonder If there isn't an easier way. Perhaps less ways to do the labeling.

Hope I'm not confusing anyone, like I mentioned in an earlier post this is my understanding and if anyone knows different please correct me. I do get the coeliac magazine, but I don't know anyone else with it so I can't really ask one of my friends or family members if I'm interrupting everything correctly

[anabananakins]

It does make it hard. With the Marshmallows maybe there was starch or a wheat derived flavours. If that's the case then they don't need to have it in brackets after as long as they say in the contains statement.

I know that some people with coeliac can't have the wheat glucose syrup but I thought that was why it's usually declared in the listing. I know that if it says contains wheat and the only thing that could be derived from it is the glucose syrup then this is what it pertains to.

So example for a chocolate: Glucose syrup (wheat), Cocoa butter, milk solids, cocoa mass.

This product contains wheat.

So this product would be gluten-free as all other ingredients are always gluten free.

Something I remember reading a few years ago is that if some ingredients are in bold then the allergen list refers to only these.

So to use the part of the above example:Glucose syrup , Cocoa butter, milk solids, cocoa mass,flavours, thickener (1442)

This product contains wheat.

So in this example the product would still be ok because it only refers to what's in bold. If however the flavours or thickeners had been in bold then it wouldn't be ok.

Has anyone ever heard this before?

I know we have some of the strictest rules but sometimes I wonder If there isn't an easier way. Perhaps less ways to do the labeling.

Hope I'm not confusing anyone, like I mentioned in an earlier post this is my understanding and if anyone knows different please correct me. I do get the coeliac magazine, but I don't know anyone else with it so I can't really ask one of my friends or family members if I'm interrupting everything correctly

That's how I understand it too, Saz. I also look at the rest of the ingredients and if I know that they are all fine, then the "contains wheat" is the syrup. But if there were a bunch of other things with more obscure names, or things likely to be contaminated, I'd take the "contains wheat" as a more all encompassing warning because they have declared wheat even if they don't get down to the finer details.

I think there's something about the Bulla label that always makes me think twice. I can't remember what though. It might be because Coles will put (I'm making this up so missing ingredients) cream, glucose syrup (wheat), vanilla Contains: milk whereaas seeing "cream, glucose syrup (wheat) vanilla, flavours" contains: milk, gluten" would worry me more because I'd wonder about the flavours.

I think Fountain Soy Sauce has to be the number 1 most confusing product. Wheat is listed a bunch of times, there's a "contains wheat" warning but the product is labeled gluten free and gluten is listed in the nutritional panel with 'nil detected'. Is the wheat a warning for people with wheat allergies? My mum keeps a bottle at her place for when she cooks for me and while I've her label reading 101 lessons (looking for the "contains" statement), I tell her that the "gluten free" label over rides the "contains" statement. I'm assuming the wheat has had all the gluten processed out of it as with the glucose syrup?

Our labelling is great, but it can still get a little confusing. One thing I really appreciate though is that our products have less ingredients, especially reduced fat products. My sour cream says "reduced fat pasteurised cream, culture. Contains: milk". When I was reading labels in the US it seemed like products like reduced fat sour cream, reduced fat yoghurt, reduced fat cottage cheese etc had a bunch of additional ingredients (fillers, maybe? ) and it really threw me.

[Saz]

If it says gluten free on the label then you are right it overrides whatever is listed in the ingredients as they will be so highly processed like the glucose syrup they no longer contain gluten. According to my ingredients book the highly processed ones are:

1. glucose syrup from wheat

2. Caramel colour (150) from wheat

3. Dextrose from wheat.

I believe they put the warning on because some very sensitive people with Coeliac do react to it. I'm not sure about people who just have to avoid wheat.

[anabananakins]

I was very excited to see Bob's Red Mill oats the other day! In Thomas Dux, Crows Nest. I have really missed oats. However, as soon as I realised that my oat-dreams could come true for the bargain price (not!) of $13 a bag, I decided I really didn't miss them that much after all, ha.

So for those aussie's missing them - try Thomas Dux. For those who want to be cured of missing them - compare the price of gluten free oats to regular oats ;-)

[mushroom]

Sorry, Wallabies! Our turn this time. GO THE ALL BLACKS!!!!!!

[Saz]

Found lots of new stuff at Coles today. The first thing is the food for kids apple bars. They are fairly small but a good snack size. The filling was really nice. The "cakey" bit is ok, it has a slight bi carb taste to it but not as much as the Leda or nurture ones in my opinion.

The second thing I tried is the vege chip twists. They are cheese flavoured and shaped like twistes. I liked them but for something closer to a twisty I'd go for kinks.

A few new Orgran products. The one I tried is called choc pockets. They are like a crisbread with chocolate inside. Haven't quite made up my mind on these yet. They taste good but the texture is unusual, I was expecting something a bit smoother.

Another thing I've found at coles this week is a range called Wellabys. So far I have seen savoury biscuits and cheese puffs. They seem to do the same things as the Mrs Crimbles range (big in the uk and suposedly available here now). Very similar packaging and tasting products.

*edit- have just checked it out and although some of the products are simillar they are not the same.

[Saz]

I heard back from coles. Apparently it is only the glucose syrup that contains the wheat. They say they have labled it in accordance with food standards. I know they are toughening up on the labeling rules, but I can't help thinking it's going to make it more complicated. I know it will be great for those who are really sensitive but surely there is some way to label foods so that no one is avoiding foods they don't have to.

[beebs]

I heard back from coles. Apparently it is only the glucose syrup that contains the wheat. They say they have labled it in accordance with food standards. I know they are toughening up on the labeling rules, but I can't help thinking it's going to make it more complicated. I know it will be great for those who are really sensitive but surely there is some way to label foods so that no one is avoiding foods they don't have to.

Yes - very complicated.

[anabananakins]

Night Noodle Market - Sydney Open Original Shared Link

I googled to see if there would be any gluten free options and I found a blog that mentioned one stall last year had gluten free options - Spanthai. I emailed them and unfortunately didn't hear back before I went last night, but if anyone is going, here is the edited for names) reply:

Yes you found us, and yes we have several gluten free options this year on our menu.

Pad Thai & Pad See Iew are gluten free. The Pad see iew does have soy however.

The Saffron Chicken & Pennang Curry is also Gluten Free.

We hope to see you on site and enjoy the atmosphere @ Hyde Park like so many other thousands of locals & visitors

that have turned up this year.

Perfect weather for this event !

spanthai@yahoo.com.au

I ate beforehand and just wandered around with my friend while they chose food - it was good fun anyway since I could breathe in all the delicious smells but didn't have to make a decision - there was so much food to chose from (well, for the glutenoids)

[anabananakins]

I heard back from coles. Apparently it is only the glucose syrup that contains the wheat. They say they have labled it in accordance with food standards. I know they are toughening up on the labeling rules, but I can't help thinking it's going to make it more complicated. I know it will be great for those who are really sensitive but surely there is some way to label foods so that no one is avoiding foods they don't have to.

Thanks for reporting back. That is kind of annoying, it'll make me second guess.

[Saz]

I'm Very very excited.

Today I bought gluten-free bread rolls and pitta bread from COLES

The brand is called Livwell, which is an amazing brand from the uk.

The bread roll didn't crumble, was soft, and had a "crust" on it like a proper bread roll. I could also slice it easily. Don't know about the rest of you but I often find gluten-free bread rolls hard to slice evenly.

For dinner tonight, I had curry and the pita bread. Like the rolls it tastes great. You could stuff it with salad or use it as a delicious pizza base.

Both of them cost $8.00 for a pack of four. I think this is great considering how far they've travelled and how incredible they taste. I'm only a small eater so for me half a piece off pitta is more than ennough.

The Australian distrubutor is bakemark and according to their website they also have some other Livwell products. These include chocolate cake bars and Cherry bakewells. Hopefuly Coles might consider getting some of these in if current products do well enough.

In the Uk the rangeeven includes english muffins and crumpets. Unfortunately no sign of these on the bakewell website, but maybe one day!

[Olivegirl]

Hello all

I just want to give a other thumbs up to Atom Thai in Newtown. Not only do they have a seperate gluten free menu - but it's almost as long as the 'normal' menu. Coeliac heaven :-)

On another note, also excited that Coles has started to re-stock gluten free pastry!