I want to warn you a bit about grocery stores and gluten free processed foods moving forward. I’ve said it before and I hope I’m not right, but I think gluten free products are going to be more challenging to come by in the near future. I further think restaurants are not going to cater to gluten free eaters in the ways we’ve become accustomed. I think it is all related to the pandemic and companies simply trying to keep up with demand rather than a nefarious plot to poison us.
What prompted this?
This article from a local television station prompted the post. The most specific sentence in the article is, “What the companies have done is they’ve stopped making every variety and concentrated on making the most popular products.”
Many of the dedicated gluten free companies, like Katz, Glutino, and Feel Good Foods will continue to make their excellent products. It is the other folks I worry about.
It’s the people like Campbells Soup Company that makes soup. Will they stop making gluten free soup because their primary business needs the lines to make gluten soup? The probably sell orders of magnitude more gluten soup than gluten free soup. So, will it be worth it for them to keep making gluten free soup when the pressure to produce more soup is increased. I said about a year ago the gluten free fad wasn’t fading. Would that still be true if fewer gluten free items were on store shelves?
Why is this important?
I advocate for everyone eating gluten free to focus on whole foods. It is healthier and cheaper. With a little bit of planning, cooking whole foods can be made quickly, even on busy evenings with working families. Even meal planning can be done on Sunday, grocery shop and prep Sunday evening, and that makes everyone ready for the week ahead.
Non-Issue
I hope this is a non-issue. But I remember at the beginning of the pandemic when people were desperate for pasta and flour. They bought gluten free substitutes thinking they would be the same and quickly realized they weren’t. I doubt they will make the same mistake twice.
But if the gluten free foods aren’t there – we need to have a plan. The idea that my local TV station talked about this indicates it may become a real problem. I want you to be prepared and ready if it does.
Covid Side Note
I went for my first appointment for the clinical study evaluating the long term effects of Covid on the immune system. Specifically, they are looking at cytokines, T cells, and B cells. I said that I was really worried about my T cells because they were already malfunctioning in my celiac disease. So, we will see what happens.