photo credit www.wholefoodsmarket.com
you will find gluten free everything here such as cookies and crackers, soups and pasta sauces, condiments, frozen meals, ice cream, spices, baking ingredients, and frozen and freshly baked goods. I admit I have always been a dedicated Choices Markets customer, and still am, however I have recently gone back to work (after my maternity leave) and I work close to the new Cambie and Broadway Whole Foods. I have been here frequently over the last few weeks, and I am now just beginning to have a grasp on the variety of gluten free foods here. for example, last week I was going to a Vancouver Canadians baseball game for work (corporate BBQ area), and I zipped over here to see if I could find some gluten free hamburger buns to take with me.
I started looking in the frozen breads freezer near the bakery as this is where I get my sandwich bread. I like the Whole Foods brand prairie bread. I found some O'Dough's frozen hamburger buns, but I wasn't sure how I would get them defrosted in time, save for leaving them in the sun at the game. I wandered around a bit, and discovered a whole table dedicated to alternative bread and bakery items! how had I missed this before! (I admit I have not taken their complimentary gluten free tour). this table has many gluten free products, but beware they are not all gluten free, some are baked with spelt flour. the gluten free collection features products from two dedicated gluten free bakeries here in Vancouver, Panne Rizo, and Mountain Top Bakery (post on these businesses to come!).
from Panne Rizo you will find:
bread crumbs
chocolate dipped macaroons
pecan snowballs
frosted swirls
tollhouse cookies
shortbread cookies
chocolate swirl biscotti
cinnamon dots
from Mountain Top Bakery you will find:
sugar free muffins
almond biscotti
chocolate biscotti
crunch granola/ granola bars
cookies
brown rice flax bread
white rice sesame bread
rice cheese bread
rice cinnamon raisin bread
rice sourdough bread (dairy free)
brown rice hamburger buns (dairy free)
rice herb garlic bread
as if these aren't enough, you will also find:
a selection of O'dough's products (not frozen)
European Breads Bakery brown rice muffins
Red Square Happy Colon Chewy Energy Cookie (seriously, I know)
in the freezer you will find:
Udi's breads, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and pizza crusts
O'Doughs pizza making kits, banana bread, hamburger buns, breads, and cakes
Whole Foods breads, pizza crust, cookies, and muffins
I would never have believed this list five years ago when Robyn and I were struggling to figure out what to eat and how to eat when we were first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and obviously things can only get better. Robyn and I would love to see some of Vancouver's boutique gluten free bakeries selling their amazing products at Whole Foods as well—the Sweet Tooth Cakery, Homestead Specialty Baking, Edible Flours, and the Gluten Free Epicurean.
one area that I still find difficult to navigate, and because of its size is also overwhelming, is the Whole Foods deli and self serve foods bars. many of the foods are gluten free, but a labeling system here would also be very helpful. in fact I will be meeting with Eden McDonald, the Healthy Eating Specialist to discuss how this area of the store can become easier to navigate and safer in terms of limiting cross contamination. stay tuned for the outcome of this meeting!
on another note, I have received many phone calls with people looking for gluten free foods, and I appreciate your calls, and I love to help. it reminds me how overwhelming it was when we were first diagnosed, Robyn and I had no assistance. we are very pleased that our blog has helped so many of you, we appreciate your positive feedback! Andrea.
whole foods | panne rizo | mountaintop bakery | o'dough's | udi's
Posts
3 comments:
Don't forget Udi's makes fabulous bagels!
I don't think there's a set schedule but on some special days Whole Foods makes a GF rice flour sponge cake. It gets placed out on the GF and special diet bakery island. It's really tasty and very fluffy. I asked at the bakery and they suggested that the GF cake only gets made "when they have time". They did stress that a special order would be no problem. Paired with Strawberries and a dash of whipped cream...
Yum!
The other day I took a drive to Whole Foods hoping to experience the "one stop shop" for gluten free items. I walked around with a buggy hoping to be blow away. Sadly, in 20 minutes, I placed my empty cart back and left the store. Superstore now carries a selection of products and at WAY better prices than Whole Foods (dollars cheaper in fact). If I were to go back to Whole Foods, it would be to purchase the items brought in from Mountain Top Bakery, otherwise it would not be worth the drive.
Post a Comment