I attend a lot of Gluten and/or Allergy Free Expos and every time I go, either as a vendor or as a consumer, I always get something good out of attending. Here’s why you should consider attending one in your area:

1. You’re Newly Diagnosed: Overwhelmed, having a hard time knowing what’s correct information on the internet or where you should start? Expos always have a roster of great speakers who can help demystify the new world you’re entering whether with information or wonderful recipes to try. Try to attend as many talks as you can to get a superb overview of how you can take your next step.

2. You Were Diagnosed Ages Ago: You too should try to attend as many talks as you can at the show. There have been so many studies of late with Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance and food allergies that you just may learn something new.

3. Taste Does Count: There are samples galore at these shows, it’s actually a good idea to come with an empty stomach or you’ll be full really fast. I heard a child say to her parent, “I can eat EVERYTHING here?” with wonderment. It just doesn’t get much better than that. And whether you’re newly diagnosed or old hat, you’ll be surprised at how good specialty diet food is these days and just how much variety is out there.

4. Discover a Small or Local Food Processor: Big grocery stores are getting so much better about offering gluten free and allergy friendly foods and that makes it easier to get your groceries done in one place. Yet at the same time, they all carry mostly the same items and those are the bigger names in the special diet world. At a trade show you’ll find smaller processors with innovative offerings and wonderful local restaurants and bakeries that have delights you just won’t find in your large grocery store.

5. You’ll Be Surrounded by People Just Like You! Really, imagine a world where everybody “Gets It”. Every booth you go to, all of the speakers, all of the people around you are experiencing the same issues that you do. You can strike up a conversation with any friendly stranger and discover that you’re not alone. Priceless!

Happy Leap Year! Why not celebrate every 4 years with a one day sale? Simply put $50 worth of products (before taxes) in your cart and you’ll get 25% off all products. For 24 hours only starting at midnight and going to 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, February 29.

Don’t forget that you can still get free shipping when you spend $75 (after discounts and before taxes) and an additional 10% off when you spend $150 (after discounts and before taxes). The time to leap is now!

I got a request on our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nonuttin-Natural-Foods/159162014110203) to put up a peanut free satay sauce that I refered to but Facebook is really not set up to write out a recipe so here it is instead.

I am one of those cooks that adds a dash of this or that and substitutes all of the time so you may need to adjust this to your taste. I use it on pasta, with chicken and vegetables on rice and for a fondue dipping sauce. And since it’s free of all of the top allergens except soy and/or easily adjusted to substitute safe ingredients, anybody can enjoy it.

Smooth or chunky peanut butter substitute: 1/3 cup
(I tend to use NoNuts Golden Peabutter when cooking and if you use this, you’ll need to add extra liquid as this substitute really soaks it up)
Oil (olive, canola, etc.) 1 Tbsp
Soy sauce 2 Tbsp
Seasoned rice vinegar (can use white) 1 Tbsp
Crushed Garlic clove (1) or garlic powder 1/4 tsp
Honey 1/4 cup
Water (or chicken broth for extra taste) 1/4 cup+ depending on your substitute and/or the consistency you like
Hot pepper sauce 1/4 tsp or to taste

Mix it all together, taste, adjust and that’s it. I hope you enjoy and are able to add a little Thai flavor to your cooking in a way that’s safe for your family.

The time is here for our 5 new products to take flight. Be sure to take advantage of the 5 Products, 50% Off for 5 Days Sale.

Check out the sale link at: http://www.nonuttin.com/shop/onsale.php?onsaleid=31

What can you get?
Blueberry Maple Granola
Cranberry Apple Granola
Berry Delight Trail Mix
Fruit Explosion Trail Mix
Raw Sunflower Seeds

And, of course, all of them are free of 9 of the top 10 food allergens: Peanut free, tree nut free, dairy free, wheat free, gluten free, sesame free, egg free, fish free, shellfish free, and sulfite free. The only allergen of note is “may contain: soy”.

I think you’ll love them but I’d also love to hear your feedback!

It’s getting to be quite a frenzy around here today with our Fabulous 5 New Products Launch happening tomorrow. We’ve got a great deal on the new products so you can give them a try with your family.

The five products are:

Blueberry Maple Granola
Cranberry Apple Granola
Berry Delight Trail Mix (with sunflower seeds)
Fruit Explosion Trail Mix (with sunflower seeds)
Raw, shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds

Now, I had not yet posted here about the raw, shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds although it was posted on our Facebook page last week. If you have a peanut/nut allergy family like we do at our house, you know how difficult it is to find sunflower seeds that don’t have the peanut/nut traces warning on them. We got so many requests from customers for sunflower seeds that we decided that if we were going to bring them in for new trail mixes, we’d also offer them on their own. We also decided to leave the seeds raw and unsalted because it’s really easy to give them a quick toast with salt in the oven at home but many people also like to have the seeds raw for throwing on salads or into baking. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them either way. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more details on the launch!

By the way, wheat contamination can also be an issue with all agricultural products and I’ve addressed that in a separate blog today.

Another new item being launched next week is Fruit Explosion Trail Mix. Not only does this trail mix use the raw sunflower seeds that so many have requested, we also listened to requests for a trail mix without salt or chocolate. We’ve delivered with Fruit Explosion.

Simple and clean, this goodie is just raw sunflower seeds, diced dried apples and apple juice sweetened blueberries and cranberries. Throw it in lunches, backpacks, muffins, chocolate bark or your favorite plain cereal without adding additional sodium or refined sugar. Simply yummy!

Over the last couple of weeks I introduced you to 2 of our new products: Blueberry Maple Granola and Berry Delight Trail Mix. Now it’s time to introduce you to my new favorite, Cranberry Apple Granola.

I have to say, I’m not normally much of a fan of cranberry products. I could take them or leave them. Not so this little gem; I’ve been known to trample over employees to get to the test kitchen samples of our new Cranberry Apple Granola.

What makes this one so special? I think that it’s just a fantastic combination between the sweet softness of our diced apples with a bit of that cranberry tartness. We’ve added just a touch of green apple flavor which smells fabulous, especially just when you open the bag. I try not to go around with my head stuck in the bag though – not if I don’t want my employees to think I’ve gone over the edge (after they pick themselves up off the floor).

And of course, like all Nonuttin Natural Foods’ granolas, this granola is: peanut free, tree nut free, dairy free, egg free, sesame free, gluten free, sulphite free, wheat free, with a may contain soy label.

Whether you like your granola plain as a snack, with soymilk or your favorite yogurt/alternative, this granola is sure to become a staple in your house.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our new products that will be ready to launch in mid-February. So far, we’ve introduced 2 of those new products on our Facebook page. We will continue to give you sneak peaks at those products in the next couple of weeks but here is what we’ve shown so far:

Blueberry Maple Granola: With tender little blueberries and maple sugar, you’ll love the blend of 2 Canadian tastes!

Berry Delight Trail Mix: This is our new favorite and I have had to hide the samples. It has softy and yummy blueberries, cranberries, raw sunflower seeds and semi-sweet chocolate chips with just a touch of sea salt. Sunflower seeds are a new ingredient for us… but we had so many people asking for them that it was time to give them a try.

Watch our Facebook page as we update posts several times per week. Don’t forget to give us your feedback too.

Last November I told you about an Allergy Task Force that was put together with researchers around the globe including the widely renowned Stephen Taylor from the University of Nebraska’s Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP). The task force announced this November, after a meeting in Nice, that they would have information about the threshold amounts for peanut, milk and egg by the end of 2012.

To put it into perspective, we already have a threshold for gluten which is 20 ppm (parts per million). Anything under 20 ppm is considered safe by the leading scientists in gluten research, even when taking into account eating many products under 20 ppm during the day – the cumulative effect. Following this accepted level, the government can then create labeling laws that specify the threshold and food producers follow this in the labeling/marketing of their own products. While not yet law in the US, the guideline for producers is that less than 20 ppm of gluten (wheat, barley and rye) may be labeled as “gluten free”.

So what does that mean for food allergens? The task force has already been reviewing and conducting scientific research to determine at what level food allergens must be present to create an allergic reaction. If, say, it is determined that the threshold for peanut is 10 ppm, only food products less than 10 ppm could be labeled as peanut free.

It could also help determine the “may contain” statements. Perhaps on occasion, a product tests at over 10 ppm. A food manufacturer could then put a “may contain peanut” on the label. If a product consistently tested above 10 ppm, the “may contain” may no longer be appropriate because peanut is consistently in the product so it must be labeled “contains peanut” or peanut must be placed on the ingredient list. Levels could also be used to determine what “traces” are vs containing peanut or it may be determined that labeling for “traces” is no longer appropriate and a product either contains or may contain an allergen.

Another consideration is that with advances in scientific testing, we can now test down to parts per billion of peanut protein.  But if a product tests at 1 part per billion, it may be well below a threshold but cannot be labeled peanut free.  This is sometimes why your favorite product that was safe at the grocery store last week now has a may contain label on it and you no longer trust as safe for your family.  Just because we can test for something, doesn’t mean that it is useful. 

Australians are going through this problem right now because their gluten free labeling law is not at 20 ppm but rather at the lowest level currently scientifically testable.  So products testing at 3 ppm for gluten can no longer have gluten free labeling and Celiacs are losing their ability to know what is actually safe under 20 ppm vs not allowed to be labelled.  Their Celiac Association has called for a change to the law because this has become a serious issue for their members and their quality of life.

Altogether, I feel that thresholds are a good thing. For the consumer, they won’t have to guess anymore as to what labeling means nor should they have to phone producers to double check a confusing label.  It may also mean that we have fewer consumers playing “Russian Roulette” with their food because they guess that a food manufacturer puts on a “may contain” only to cover themselves legally, when, in fact, the food may very well contain that protein.

For governments, they then have a definitive threshold that can be placed into labeling laws and therefore have the authority to recall products that are unsafe and/or conduct legal investigations and actions for producers disregarding the law.

For food producers, it means that they can also stop guessing and create specific sanitation and testing protocols for their products and food production lines.  They can also label very specifically and if indeed they are putting blanket “may contains” on all of their products, they can stop doing that and allow more of their products to become available to allergic consumers.

If you’d like to know more details about the International Task Force, who’s on it and what they are trying to achieve, you can check out this page: http://www.ilsi.org/europe/pages/tf_foodallergy.aspx

This Nonuttin’ chocolate sale won’t be found anywhere but on Nonuttin’ social media: our enewsletter, our blog and our Facebook page. And it’s only on until December 15 at 9 pm PST.

For every 3 pouches of our 70% Dark Chocolate Chunks OR every 3 pouches of our Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips you’ll get 1 FREE.

Put in 4 of one product to the cart and 1 will automatically be updated to a free item. Put in 8; get 2 free, and so on. Products are not mix and match for the free item (i.e 2 pouches of chunks, 1 pouch of chips).

There is NO limit on how many free pouches you can get so now is the time to stock up for your baking. Our chocolate freezes beautifully in its sealed pouch too and can be frozen for up to 2 years (even though we bet you won’t be able to keep your hands off for that long).

Go Shopping Now: www.nonuttin.com/shop or www.nonuttin.ca