80 Best Gluten Free Desserts For The Holidays
Happy Monday, girls & boys!
So many interesting things happened this weekend, I decided to compiled them (along with my own two cents) for you in case you missed them.
Coffee & Gluten Cross – False Alarm??
After seeing a few tweets and reading my fair share of very poorly documented blog claims purporting that proteins in coffee are similar enough to the gluten protein and will generate a similar immune reaction, I began my own search. I googled, followed links, read PDFs and found, well, not much to report. Finally I reached out to my friends over at Easy Eats Magazine and they too had similar concerns.
As for full disclosure here, I can tell you that I don’t drink coffee, nor have I ever. So personally I don’t care whether the coffee is a problem or not since I don’t like it. However I’ve got plenty of clients who do enjoy a cup of Joe, and in moderate amounts, I believe that coffee is relatively okay. Though many people who do drink coffee consume too much, that’s a topic for another day.
Take into account that us GF folks are already sensitive (pun intended) to food and beverages leaving most of us constantly on guard to avoid getting ‘glutened’. That’s why I, along with many others whom I respect and know, are careful to present information unless we’ve really vetted the information, studied it and feel confident that we’re not leading you astray. That’s why I felt really bothered by this situation – people wrote about this cross-reaction issue on their sites as if it was a proven fact citing no studies, no facts, nor any real references that could actually be sussed out.
Furthermore, from what I and Easy Eats Magazine could figure out, the only doctor who’s paper this work comes from (Dr. Tom, as he’s called on the web) has a financial interest in the lab testing for the cross-reactions. I am not calling Dr. Tom a liar by any means, however this information is incredibly important when considering the potential conflict of interest.
So for now, coffee may be okay (though you should always be open-minded about other possible sensitivities) and if you want to read more about the official reaction from Easy Eats Magazine
The Great Kobe Beef Lie
Love Kobe beef burgers, steaks or whatever über expensive cuts you can find at restaurants? FYI – it’s not Kobe beef and probably never has been. This specialty Japanese beef is only exported to Macao and will be refused entry in by the USDA in whatever form it’s in an any US border crossing. Nor are any Kobe cattle raised here… they’re only raised in Japan.
This just another example of how consumers’ ignorance is being used again them when it comes to effective food marketing. Want more info? Check out this awesome piece from Forbes here.
What’s your thoughts on the coffee & gluten issue? How does it make you feel that unsubstantiated information is being taken seriously as fact?
Are you surprised about Kobe Beef?
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Wow i really liked this article and i am very surprised by all the resesrch that went into it. I actually have been buying what i thought was Kobe Beef from a vender at my local farmers market for at least a year now, i had always thought it was the real stuff! I love how it tastes and so easy to cook. Now i am not sure if i should keep buying it?
I never knew that it was not imported from Japan. According to my supplier, the cattle was raised here in the USA.
This is very disappointing news. Thank you for posting the article.