Re: Eden Organics

[Guest guest]

Thanks for this information. I tend to buy Eden beans because their cans don't have any BPA in them -- it never occurred to me they might be cross contaminated with gluten! I have never had an obvious reaction, but of course that doesn't mean I haven't been negatively affected by them. I wonder if this is a company that would respond to a campaign to certify their products' gf status via testing. . .

Sent from my tin can and string. Please excuse mumbling and static.

-----Original Message-----

From: tunibell <jessika.welcome@...>

Sent: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 2:23 pm

Subject: [ ] Eden Organics

FYI...

Last month I had a reaction following the consumption of a bowl of home-popped popcorn. Generally, I try not to eat anything in a package unless it is stamped gluten free, and I’m hugely partial to items that have been certified gluten-free. Still, this particular package made no mention of possible allergen contamination, so I took a chance.

I dispatched an e-mail to Eden Organic, the manufacturer of the popcorn, to alert them to my reaction and to ask them if it was possible that the popcorn had been contaminated during processing. I received the following response:

"Eden Organic Popcorn is not packaged on a dedicated line. There are gluten containing products packaged on the same line. Eden handles and packages non- gluten products on equipment that also handles and packages gluten containing ingredients and products. To avoid and minimize the potential for cross contamination an Allergen Control Plan is followed. All allergens, including gluten-containing products and ingredients, are identified as an Allergen with a pallet tag at the time of Receiving. Allergens are segregated from non-allergen products while in warehouse storage. In Production an Allergen Control Scheduling program is followed to avoid cross contamination with allergens. After processing or packaging allergen-containing ingredients a thorough cleaning is conducted followed by a documented swab test to verify that cleaning was effective. Allergen training and testing is conducted on an annual basis to educate all Operations personnels on Eden’s Allergen Control Plan.

As explained, Eden closely follows an Allergen Control Plan but some customers are so sensitive that even having a gluten containing product in the same facility is too much. Your sensitivity may be too great for any of our products that are packaged in pouches. All of these packages are packaged on the same lines."

Ordinarily, most of what was said in the first paragraph would have been fine with me. The second, paragraph, however was troubling. I don’t know whether I would consider myself particularly “sensitive.†I have celiac disease, and it just so happened that my reaction was unmistakable. It does not, however, mean that all people with celiac disease would have a similar, or even a noticeable reaction.

So, fine, no more Eden Organic Popcorn for me. But then it occurred to me that all the canned beans I eat (and I eat a lot of canned beans) are also from Eden Organic. I dispatched another email, and received this response:

"Eden unseasoned canned beans are manufactured on the same line as our seasoned beans which do contain some gluten ingredients. Our dry beans in 1 lb. boxes are packaged at our pasta facility and our dry beans which are packaged in 25 lb. bags are packaged at our Clinton, Michigan, facility which also manufactures and packages products that contain gluten."

I'm thinking this will end my pantry's relationship with Eden Organic products. On a good note, however, I learned that all of Rancho Gordo's dry beans are a)grown by farmers who only grow beans and b)processed and packaged in a GF facility.