The last year or so, I've noticed the appearance of a lot of gluten-free products on Trader Joe's shelves.  More and more people are going gluten-free these days.  A gluten free diet is typically followed in response to a wheat allergy or Celiac disease (gluten intolerance). 

I was talking to our pediatrician recently and he said that wheat/gluten allergies and sensitivities are very under-diagnosed.  Either the sensitivity is not known or it is misdiagnosed as a general irritable bowel syndrome or as lactose tolerance.   The wheat or gluten allergy causes malabsorption of food and vitamin deficiency.  About 1% of Americans (most commonly people of European descent) suffer from Celiac disease, but many think that the actual numbers are much higher.

Glutens are found in wheat, barley, and rye and so many foods contain these flours.  Even soy sauce!  So what do you do if you can't eat regular bread, pasta, crackers, etc?  Well, many people believe that we all eat too much of that stuff anyway... but there are plenty of gluten-free substitutes!  Some of the gluten-free alternatives at Trader Joe's include:

1.) Gluten-free breads made from brown rice flour. The bread is very dense and a bit small in cross-section, but not bad in taste.
2.) Brown rice pastas in a variety of shapes.   The brown rice pasta is absolutely terrific!  The texture is great, unlike pastas made with quinoa and/or amaranth which just seem to fall apart.  There is even a boxed mac-n-cheese made from rice pasta.
3.) Tortillas made from brown rice (although most regular corn tortillas are also gluten-free)
4.) A selection of frozen breakfast foods such as frozen wheat-free waffles and frozen wheat-free pancakes
5.) Baking mixes such as gluten-free pancake/waffle mix and gluten-free brownie mix, all made from alternative flours.  The brownie mix is pretty good too - it has a slight grout-like texture, but taste-wise it passes. 
6.) TJ's also has a tasty granola that is gluten-free.  It comes in three flavors:  Cranberry Maple Nut, Tropical Forest, and Loaded Fruit & Nut.  My kids love these granolas, and I didn't even notice that they were gluten-free till I read the package more carefully.
7.) Of course, if you're gluten-free, beer is off the menu.  So what ice-cold alternative can you serve?  There is such a thing as gluten-free beer but I haven't spotted any at TJ's.  What they do have at TJ's is hard cider, which is naturally gluten-free.  The line of hard cider at TJ's is called Newton's Folly.  A little bit of googling seemed to indicate that Newton's Folly is private-label Woodchuck brand. 

There are plenty of foods that are normally gluten free, but these are some of the alternatives I spotted for foods that normally contain gluten.

I also have to give a non-TJ thumbs up to two lines: Pamela's and Bob's Red Mill gluten free products.  For those that are concerned about the contamination levels, both these lines do the ELISA Gluten Assay testing protocol to test for glutens (TJ's packaging does not indicate that they do this).   At a few recent parties, including my daughter's birthday party, there were quite a few gluten-intolerant guests so I decided to test a few of the Pamela's and Bob's mixes.  Both Pamela's and Bob's mixes were excellent.  Their cake mixes were delicious with moist and fluffy texture,  and I have to say that their brownie mix edged out TJ's (sorry TJ, you know I love you but I have to be honest).  Of course, price-wise, the Trader Joe's brownie mix is less than half the price at $2.99.  I'll still buy it!

Have any gluten-free favorites?  Let me know!  And if you'd like to correct/clarify anything I said regarding wheat/gluten sensitivity, please do so below!