Gluten Free Marathon Training!

Jul
19
By Laura

A few weeks ago I signed up for my first Marathon. It takes place on the 10th of October this year (10/10/10) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through research into what more experienced athletes and marathon runners say, I have prepared my own training schedule. This consists of 5 running days, including one long run day, one medium run day and two days of resting.

All of this training means that I’m hungry pretty much constantly and finding interesting and varied gluten free meals to eat gets pretty difficult. Much of what I’ve read talks about loading up on carbs and since many carb filled foods tend to also be filled with gluten, I’m careful to ensure I still get enough carbs whilst remaining gluten free.

I’m doing the first half of my training in Iowa and my second half when we move to Argentina, 2 months before the race.

Tasty Chex for breakfast

Vegetable sushi

My tasty tortilla lunch

Cream of Rice with pineapple and cinnamon

In Iowa

I like to start my day with a bowl of Chex. On a short run day I’ll nibble a few pieces of fruit before my run and leave the cereal for afterwards but on a long run day I’ll fuel up with cereal first thing when I wake up. I’ve starting mixing corn, rice and honey nut Chex and I love it. Some days I substitute Chex for Cream of Rice, which tastes great with fruit and cinnamon.

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Gluten Free Tootsie Roll Industries

Jul
18
By Laura

Dots

Junior Mints

 

UPDATE: Jan, 2015

The Tootsie Roll website has been recently updated with new allergen information and I’m happy to report that all Tootsie Roll products are gluten-free! They are also peanut and tree nut free! Please check their FAQs for the most up-to-date information.

From the Tootsie Roll website as of January 24th, 2015:

Do any of your products contain peanuts or nuts?

At this time, all of our confections are completely peanut, tree nut and nut product free. We have no peanut or tree nut products in any of our facilities.

Which of your products is gluten free?

At this time, all of our confections are gluten free. We do not use wheat, barley, rye, oats, triticale, spelt or any of their components and that includes our dusting on our conveyor belts. We do use corn and soy products in the manufacturing of our products.

___________

UPDATE: Feb 13th 2012: As I wrote this post a while back I wanted to report that Toostsie Roll Industries still provide the same information regarding the gluten free status of their products. The only difference is that they now mention that Andes cookies are their only gluten containing product. Great! The fact that they do not use wheat, barley, rye, oats, triticale, spelt, or any of their components, either as ingredients or as part of the manufacturing process is pretty great news for celiacs!

All Tootsie products are:

  • Gluten-Free (All Tootsie products are gluten free except Andes cookies.)
  • Peanut-Free
  • Nut Product-Free

Tootsie does not use wheat, barley, rye, oats, triticale, spelt, or any of their components, either as ingredients or as part of the manufacturing process.

Corn and soy products are used during the manufacturing process

In the States, a large number of the candy and chocolate snacks that you find in stores are produced by Tootsie Roll Industries. A lot of the snacks associated with going to the movie theatre like Junior Mints, Dots and Sugar Babies are also made by Tootsie Roll, which always has me wondering which ones are safe for me to eat…

Which Tootsie Roll Industries products are gluten free?

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Gluten Free Tamales and Fireworks

Jul
13
By Laura

Last weekend I went with some friends to listen to classical music and watch some amazing fireworks. The event was Symphony Blast in Burlington, Iowa and it was lots of fun.  We lay in a grassy park listening and watching. I’ve never been so close to a fireworks display before and it was awesome.

Morgan's delicious Gluten Free tamales

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Gluten Free Red Avocado, Iowa City

Jul
12
By Laura

The Red Avocado

I’d been meaning to try The Red Avocado for a while but we always seemed to be in the vicinity between the hours of 2pm and 5pm, when it’s not open. It’s a vegan restaurant in Iowa city and I’d heard that they do quite a few gluten free dishes too. I haven’t found too many gluten friendly restaurants in Iowa that also have personality so I was very excited to try this locally inspired, organic place.

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Gluten Free Nestle

Jul
09
By Laura

Butterfinger

Baby Ruth

 

UPDATE (13th Feb, 2012) Today I spoke with Nestle customer service again. They are much more pleasant and helpful than some other companies I contacted today. They emailed me a copy of their most recent ‘Gluten Free Products’ list and it looks as though it’s still the same products which are safe. This information they say  includes products which to the best of their knowledge are not made with ingredients derived from wheat, oats, rye or barley, nor are these made on equipment which processes products containing wheat, oats, rye or barley ingredients. Sounds pretty good.

I called Nestle North America to find out which of their candy products are gluten free.

This is the list I was given….

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Blue Bunny Gluten Free

Jul
07
By Laura

Blue Bunny ice cream

When the sun is shining and the heat sweltering, what better than a freezing cold bowl of delicious, creamy, ice cream….

For a while now I’ve wondered whether I’m being over cautious when it comes to finding safe ice cream. Are all ice creams gluten free unless then have some obvious cake or cookie topping or do some varieties include certain flavourings or colourings that may contain gluten? I figure the later is probably true which is what keeps me from freely ordering ice cream whenever I get a taste for it.

Welcome Blue Bunny, an ice cream company which started in Iowa but whose products are now available all over the States.

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Skittles Gluten Free

Jul
07
By Laura

Today I picked up a packed of Skittles and smiled when I saw that they are labelled ‘gluten free’. I still stand by my opinion that Skittles taste better in the UK but back home we only have a couple of different varieties whereas the States seem to have gone Skittles mad. I found the chocolate ones today and they are yummy with their S’mores, vanilla, chocolate caramel, chocolate pudding and brownie batter flavours. I have emailed Wrigley USA a few times to see if they can provide me with allergen information/precautions to ensure there is no cross contamination in production but I haven’t yet received a reply.

UPDATE for Skittles in the UK: When I emailed Wrigley, the company who make Skittles,last week this is the response I got. Basically they can confirm there is no gluten above 100ppm but they can’t confirm that it’s below 20ppm –

“For those products that do not contain gluten ingredients in the ingredient listing, the potential level of gluten in the finished product is below 100mg/kg. However as we do not guarantee the absence of minute quantities of gluten in order to meet the EU definition of ‘gluten free’ (as per Commission Regulation (EC) No 41/2009) which is less than 20mg of gluten per Kg.”

Original skittles

Lots of tasty gluten free flavours

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Hershey’s Gluten Free

Jul
05
By Laura

Reece’s peanut butter cups (by Hershey’s)

UPDATE: (Jan, 2015)

As of last month, Hershey’s have updated their gluten-free product lists. They have separate lists for products sold in the US and in Canada. The US list is MUCH bigger than the Canadian one. You can check out the HERSHEY website for the most up-to-date allergen information. These gluten-free product lists have been evaluated and qualify as being gluten-free using the FDA and CFIA respectively. This means that in both countries, the products listed cannot contain more than 20ppm. Personally, I’m not a fan of Hershey’s chocolate but if you are then these lists are for you. 🙂

U.S. GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS:

ALMOND JOY Candy - All Except ALMOND JOY PIECES Candy

DAGOBA Baking and Beverages - ALL

HEATH Bars - ALL

HERSHEY’S - Baking Bars

HERSHEY’S Semi Sweet Baking Bar

HERSHEY’S Unsweetened Baking Bar

HERSHEY’S - Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S Butterscotch Chips

HERSHEY’S Cinnamon Chips

HERSHEY’S KISSES MINI KISSES Milk Chocolate

HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Chips

HERSHEY’S MINI CHIPS Semi-Sweet Chocolate

HERSHEY’S Mint Chocolate Chips

HERSHEY’S Premier White Chips

HERSHEY’S Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Mildly Sweet Chocolate Chips

HERSHEY’S Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

REESE’S Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S - Cocoa

HERSHEY’S Cocoa

HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa

HERSHEY’S KISSES Candies

HERSHEY’S KISSES Milk Chocolate

HERSHEY’S KISSES Filled Chocolates - ALL

HERSHEY’S KISSES SPECIAL DARK Mildly Sweet Chocolate

HERSHEY’S Nuggets Chocolates

HERSHEY’S Nuggets Milk Chocolates

HERSHEY’S Nuggets Milk Chocolate with Almonds

HERSHEY’S Nuggets SPECIAL DARK Dark Chocolate with Almonds

HERSHEY’S Nuggets Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Almonds

HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Bar

HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Bar (1.55oz only)

HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate with Almonds Bar (1.45oz only)

HERSHEY’S AIR DELIGHT Aerated Milk Chocolate Bar

HERSHEY’S Milk Duds – ALL

HERSHEY’S Syrup and Toppings

HERSHEY’S Caramel Syrup

HERSHEY’S Classic Caramel Topping

HERSHEY’S Chocolate Syrup

HERSHEY’S Chocolate Syrup with Calcium

HERSHEY’S Chocolate Sugar Free Syrup

HERSHEY’S Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup

HERSHEY’S Lite Chocolate Syrup

HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Syrup

HERSHEY’S Strawberry Syrup

HERSHEY’S Strawberry Sugar Free Syrup

YORK Peppermint Pattie Sundae Syrup

MOUNDS Bars – ALL

PAYDAY Candy – ALL

REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups – All Except REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup Unwrapped Minis and Seasonal Shaped Items

REESE’S PIECES Candy - All Except REESE’S PIECES Eggs

ROLO Caramels in Milk Chocolate Candies – All Except ROLO Minis

SCHARFFEN BERGER – ALL

SKOR Toffee Bars - ALL

YORK Peppermint Pattie – All Except YORK PIECES Candy, YORK Minis, and YORK Shapes (5 oz.)

 

CANADIAN GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS:

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Butterscotch Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Dark Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Milk Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Mint Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Mini KISSES Chocolates

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Mint Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Pure White Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS REESE Peanut Butter Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips

HERSHEY’S CHIPITS SKOR Toffee Baking Bits

HERSHEY’S Cocoa

UPDATE: (April 3rd, 2012) It looks as though Hershey’s have finally updated their gluten free list to include more products! This list was updated only a couple of days ago and now includes products like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy and Mounds bars. Fantastic!!

Hershey’s state that ‘For your convenience, the current products listed below have been fully evaluated and qualify as gluten free using standards proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Please note this list is not all inclusive as we have other gluten-free confections.’ So these products listed should contain less than 20ppm and be safe for celiacs. Thanks, Hershey’s!

UPDATE: (March 2012) I called Hershey’s again and was given the same gluten free product list as above. Clearly their customer service people haven’t been given any new or updated information regarding the gluten free status of products because I was given almost word for word the same spiel as the last time I called. Again I was told that many of their other products are gluten free but they can’t confirm this?!? In products with no gluten containing ingredients Hershey’s have procedures in place to eliminate the chance of cross contamination. This sounds good but we celiacs need a more confident list of gluten free products from your company rather than just leaving us to read the labels and figure it out for ourselves.

This information is also relevant to Cadbury’s chocolate in the US as it is manufactured by Hershey’s.

 

Last week I called Hershey’s….

I explained to the man who answered my call that I was looking to find out which of their products are gluten free as this is not apparent on their labelling.

He gave me this short list (confirmed as gluten free by Hershey’s corporate Headquarters):

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Gluten Free Bone Fish Grill Des Moines

Jul
05
By Laura

Bone Fish in West Des Moines

I was in Des Moines last weekend to visit friends and enjoyed a wonderful meal at Bone Fish in West Des Moines. On their website you can download their gluten free menu. (I found it strange that their gf menu is an exact replica of the ordinary menu but with GF beside the gluten free items. Why not just make this the menu that everyone gets?) Anyway…there were a variety of dishes to choose from and they all sounded really good. The friend we were visiting said he had been to this restaurant a couple of times and really enjoyed the food so we decided to give it a try.

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Gluten Free Sandwich Meat

Jul
05
By Laura

Finding a sandwich meat that’s gluten free can be a difficult task as this type of meat is almost always processed and therefore gluten tends to have found it’s way in somehow. Back in the UK I use Bernard Matthews meat on my sandwiches because it’s labelled as being gluten free and there are a few different varieties to choose from. When I arrived in the States I had to find a similar alternative.

Buddig

It was by chance that I came across Buddig. My boyfriend and I were driving from Iowa to Vegas when we were caught up in a terrifying Tornado warning in Western Nebraska. After driving at insane speeds and hiding out in the home of complete strangers, the storm had passed but I was still too terrified to continue driving that evening. We decided to spend the night at a local motel and it was in the truck stop attached to that motel that I first encountered Buddig.

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