By Out the sprout

From Seed To Sprout

Avon-by-the-Sea

This was the reply I was given after I found out that the cafe my girlfriend and I used to frequent was using a bread that they claimed was organic and gluten free and in all actuality is not. I contacted the bakery who makes the bread and spoke to the customer service representative who told me in no uncertain terms that their product should not be consumed by anyone with a gluten sensitivity or anyone who suffers from celiac disease. Now, I want to make it perfectly clear that this company in no way represents their product to be either gluten free nor organic and does not label the bread with the USDA certified organic label or the universal gluten free label either. The bread label reads only one ingredient is organic and clearly states that the bread contains trace amounts of gluten, wheat and yeast. Yet for the last 2 years, From seed to sprout, Avon by the sea, N.J. was listing this bread as a gluten free, 100% organic alternative for their grilled avocado sandwich. So for the last 2 years my girlfriend, who suffers from a very sensitve gluten allergy, had been eating this sandwich with the aformetioned bread. Now, we only consume food that has the USDA organic label and the universal certified gluten free label as well. My girlfriends gluten sensitivity had gone undiagnosed for years, and once we found out what she was allergic to, we started the long arduos task of finding food that was not only gluten free, but organic as well...not an easy task at all. So, when we found the Cafe From seed to sprout, we were elated that there was an eatery that served gluten free and organic food, or so we thought. Over the course of the 2 years we ate at this cafe, there were times that my girlfriend would break out in severe rashes, so we started racking our heads trying to find the source of her contamination. There is another organic restaraunt that my girlfriend had gone to one time and we surmised that she must have gotten cross contaminated inadvertenly, as this other restaraunt serve's both gluten and gluten free foods. While my girlfriend struggled with her rash, we still would go on occasion to the cafe From seed to sprout because they had this delicious gluten free avocado sandwich which was a special treat we would get her....or so we thought. Early last week, after eating at From seed to sprout, I asked the counter girl if there was any way that I could purchase a couple of loaves of this bread, because it was hands down the best gluten free bread we have ever tasted, which she agreed and asked permission from one of the owners to set aside 2 loaves from their next delivery, this past Friday. Well Friday comes and I go pick up the bread and when I get home, my girlfriend reads the label and to our shock and disgust there is no label anywhere claiming this bread is gluten free or 100% organic, as claimed by the owners of From seed to sprout. So basically these two women took it upon themselves to call this bread gluten free because they like the way it tasted and flat out lied about its content. It is this kind of irresponsible and blatanly unethical behavior that puts celiac disease and gluten allergy sufferers at risk. I am now comitted to bringing this message out to the people who entrust their health to unscrupulous restaurantuers who carelessly endanger their health. I have goole searched this and there is an alarmingly high rate of incidence in the culinary world. I will post many more reference articles in the very near future. So be a smart consumer and do your research and do it well.