Gluten Free Raleigh: General Mills Update - Over 200 GF Products Now Available

Fundraising History

As of Dec 3, 2010
1) Jules Shepard Gluten Free Cooking Class - 2/28/2009 $100 donated to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research $400 donated to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)

2) Gluten Free Raleigh Run/Walk Fundraiser - 6/13/2009 $915 donated to Gluten Free Week 2009 @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

3) Jules Shepard Gluten Free Cooking Class - 7/12/2009 $300 donated to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research

4) GF 101 Class @ Rosie's Plate - 10/3/2009 $175 donated to Gluten Free Week 2010 @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

5) GF 101 Class @ Rosie's Plate - 1/23/2010 $100 donated to Gluten Free Week 2010 @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

6) GF 101 Class @ Rosie's Plate - 4/24/2010 $85 donated to Gluten Free Week 2010 @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

7) Gluten Free Food Drive to benefit The Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC - May 2010 $925

8) GF 101 Class @ Whole Foods - 10/23/2010 $82.50 donated to Gluten Free Week 2011 @ Camp Kanata (GIG sponsored camp in Wake Forest)

Grand Total = $3,082.50

Celiac Disease Stats

16,860 Triangle residents with Celiac Disease
1 out of every 133 Americans (about 3 million people or 1% of population) has Celiac Disease.
97% of Americans estimated to have CD are not diagnosed.
CD has over 300 known symptoms although some people experience none.
Age of diagnosis is key: If you are diagnosed between age 2-4, your chance of getting an additional autoimmune disorder is 10.5%. Over the age of 20, that rockets up to 34%.
30% of the US population is estimated to have the genes necessary for CD.
2.5 babies are born every minute in the USA with the genetic makeup to have CD.
There are 15 states in the US with populations less than the total number of Celiacs in the US.
CD affects more people in the US than Crohn’s Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined.
500,000 new Celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the US by 2012 -- thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of the disease.
People with CD dine out 80% less than they used to before diagnosis and believe less than 10% of eating establishments have a 'very good' or 'good' understanding of GF diets.
It takes an average of 11 years for patients to be properly diagnosed with CD even though a simple blood test exists.
The average cost of misdiagnosis is $5,000 - $12,000 per person per year. Improving the time to diagnosis could save the health care system millions of dollars annually in unnecessary medical care.
A recent study by Packaged Facts projects that the sales of GF food will reach $2.63 Billion by 2012. The GF market is also projected to hit $5 Billion by 2015.
GF foods are, on average, 242% more expensive then their non-GF counterparts.
The smallest amount of gluten which has been shown by a biopsy to cause damage to a Celiac is 0.1 gram per day - or 1/48th of a slice of bread.
The Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act became law in 2006 allowing for easier reading of food labels for those with CD but the law only requires labeling of wheat. Nearly 5 years later, the FDA still has not finalized what it means to label a product Gluten Free.
12% of people in the US who have Down Syndrome also have CD.
8% of people in the US who have Type 1 Diabetes also have CD.
Among people who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with Celiac, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease. First degree relatives should be tested yearly for CD even if previous tests were negative.
There are currently 0 drugs available to treat CD.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

General Mills Update - Over 200 GF Products Now Available

I've written many times about the great things General Mills is doing for the Gluten Free product marketplace. Click here for some of my previous entries on this topic. I recently saw this article from celiac-disease.com about some new announcements from General Mills.

General Mills has launched a brand new Web site and newsletter around their Gluten Free product offering. The Web site is called Live Gluten Freely and it states there that the site is "your destination for gluten-free product information, new product news and recipes from General Mills. Our goal is to help you live your life without gluten…". The Web site also features recipes and a newsletter as well as an explanation about how they label their GF products (see picture to the left).

General Mills is a top 5 food company in the USA and is currently offering over 200 products which are labeled as Gluten Free. You can see the extensive list here. The PDF version (last updated on 11/30/09) is here. The products include major brands like Betty Crocker dessert mixes & fruit snacks, Chex cereal, Lara Bars, Progresso Soups and Yoplait yogurt.

Additionally, you can follow General Mills on Facebook & Twitter.

5 comments:

Tiffany said...: Hi Zach - Can you imagine what this means for the other companies that are behind GM on this issue? I'm so excited to see what's next for our rapidly expanding market!; December 3, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Lauren said...: I bought some General Mills stock (GIS) around $50/share last April and now look how good the company is doing! :-) Thank you, General Mills for all the gf products!; December 3, 2009 at 11:19 AM
C Claiborne said...: I recently called them about Strawberry Chex which I had seen in PA during a visit. I did not try them and could not find them here anywhere. It turns out that they have been discontinued. I think they are still on their website, but they are not in this e-mail which I also received.
Clair; December 3, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Unknown said...: I just want to add a warning...I have been buying the GF Corn Chex a lot and enjoy them a lot. But, right before Thanksgiving I was shopping and in a hurry, and I accidentally picked up a Corn Chex box that was not GF. The box looked very similar to the GF one, but it had barley malt in the ingredients. I was in such a hurry I don't remember where I picked it up but it might have been Food Lion, where I don't usually shop.

Moral of the story, be careful when grabbing a box of Chex. ;-); December 3, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Zach said...: John, great point... just this week at my local Kroger I found some old Chocolate Chex boxes. Gotta be careful.; December 3, 2009 at 6:00 PM

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

General Mills Update - Over 200 GF Products Now Available

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