Not-so-Gluten Free Chex..shame on you General Mills!

Being a husband of someone who suffers from celiac disease (aka, gluten intolerance) has been a very eye opening experience. When we first started dating, I made every effort to be supportive and eat everything she ate. I ate gluten free spaghetti, sandwiches, cookies, pretzels. I tried it all. I couldn't do it. It was terrible. The bread tasted like cardboard and would crumble into pieces if you touched it. The spaghetti was chewy and often clumped togehter to the point that it wouldn't cook all the way. Gross.

Eventually, we worked it out that it would be cheaper for me to eat "normal" food. Plus, I found that eating this gluten free food gave me a stomach ache...maybe i am allergic to not having gluten in my food! This has worked for us for years, although there are many nights where we have to cook at least two or three meals, one for her, one for me, and sometimes one for Noah cause he can't or won't eat what we are eating.

Now, the quality of the food has definitely improved over the years as celiac disease has become more widely diagnosed, but there are still some situations where we run into problems. Unequivocally, the most difficult situation is small "lunch meetings/gatherings" where lunch is provided. Think about what you usually eat at these types of gatherings: pizza, cold sandwiches, maybe the occasional sloppy joe, cookies...none of these options are viable, and Jen usually ends up going hungry or has chips for lunch. Now, this is not the fault of the host/hostess for the lunch...what is there to serve that would be gluten free? Tacos? Too difficult. Anyway, on to the real point of this post...

Yesterday, Jen had what I would call a "moment". I wasn't there to witness this, but she apparently broke down in Target when she saw that Chex cereal was now advertising "gluten free" Chex that came in several different flavors (corn, rice, honey nut, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.) She could buy them for $2.54 a box yesterday when she usually pays $4-$5 for a box of special gluten free cereal. She called me after all of this happened and was still pretty choked up. She bought just one box and brought it home. She proceeded to eat most of the box over the course of the next 24 hours. All was well in her world until she had some noticeable reactions similar to what happens when she eats gluten. Now, from what I have read, a reaction to gluten is different for each person. Some people get violently ill, others it is only subtle and hard to detect. For Jen, she is more on the subtle end of things, becoming slightly irritable, tired, depressed, and phsyically uncomfortable without knowing why.

Without knowing she was feeling like this, I was looking on the internet to see what others had written about General Mills new foray into gluten free porducts. This is when I found a post on the blog Celiac Bites outlining that while the ingredients in the Chex may be gluten free, there is a chance for cross-contamination. This can occur when a gluten free product is made on the same machinery, or even in the same facility as gluten-filled products Needless to say we were both very disappointed and Jen has been suffering the side-effects of this all day.

It seems General Mills trying to cash in on those with celiac disease and those who choose to eat gluten free as a lifestyle. Shameful...