GF Hall of Shame: Wellshire Farms

A series of articles in the Chicago Tribune reveals how Wellshire Farms was selling gluten-containing items as gluten free, knowingly:

11/21/2008 Children at risk in food roulette
12/31/2008 Store pulls 3 'gluten-free' items
1/24/2009 Chain pulls 'gluten-free' items after illness

These articles are no longer free to view as they have been archived, but many local libraries have free internet access for their members.

It's hard enough to swallow, pardon the pun, that an item meant for the consumption of those with Celiac Disease, wheat allergies, and a variety of intolerances and other illnesses exacerbated by gluten, should be purchased because the product promises not to harm those people specifically, only for those people to be harmed despite their best efforts. This isn't aunt Sally trying to make a gluten-free turkey dinner and accidentally using the spoon that touched the wheat flour gravy to stir the GF corn starch version. This is more like the evil person in our lives who thinks we made this up to be special, and they're going to catch us in a lie by slipping some real breadcrumbs into our Glutino-topped fish broil.

Specifically, the company allowed 200 ppm (parts per million) gluten, when the standard is 20 ppm. It was enough to make people ill. Rather than apologize for making these people sick, as that would be admitting liability, the company issued an explanation of why it thought it was okay to allow gluten in a gluten free product.

The company's website now offers a food allergy page, where you enter your allergy, and a long, unorganized list of products they would like you to buy appears.

Attention Wellshire Farms; I don't care about your jumbled long list. I don't care that the website said you were offering a coupon, though when I clicked to see how you were trying to win back the gluten free community, I was redirected to the home page.

You POISONED people because you thought a little of that poison was okay.

Repeat after me: "SORRY."

When you screw up, people don't want to hear why you screwed up. They don't want to hear you explain why you weren't really responsible for your actions. They want an APOLOGY.

Prior to this travesty, I was a customer of other Wellshire Farms products. I try to maintain an organic kitchen, especially where meats are concerned. I figure we were spending between $30-50 a month minimum on Wellshire Farms products alone in a month. The explanation in lieu of apology/recall (it was Wholefoods that took care of its customers by pulling the items) states that contamination is unavoidable, and I have to assume that includes in every product the company wants us to buy. More importantly, I would rather spend $500+ a year on products from a company that can apologize.

Or doesn't need to.