Rico Pan Bakery - Corn Cookies

[Guest guest]

I picked up some Corn Cookies (Galletas de Maiz) while buying lunch at the

Mexico Tortilla Factory & Delicatessen in Newark, CA. I called the bakery (Rico

Pan Bakery, LLC, 8830 International Blvd. Oakland, CA 94621, 510.376.7156) and

was told that the cookies are gluten free (ingredients: corn flour, vegetable

shortening--no trans fats--, Sugar, Molasses, Eggs, Cinnamon, Vanilla extract,

baking powder, baking soda). When I asked if they could confirm that the corn

flour was processed on machinery that had not also processed wheat or barley,

they didn't sound super confident. But they did say that they planned to add

'gluten free' to future packaging because of the surprising popularity of the

cookies in the GF community.

So, how do we know? Would you guys eat them? My wife tried one and, so far so

good.

[Guest guest]

Very interesting. If they work out for your wife, all the better. Being super-sensitive myself, though, unless I had very high confidence in their manufactuing process, I would not try them.

I tried some corn tamales from the refridgerated section of Whole Foods that should have been gluten-free according to the ingredients, though they were not labeled gluten-free. They were made by a small local Mexican food baker/preparer. They made me very sick! And at a restaurant in SF, i had corn tortillas that they swore were gluten free - also made me very sick. And no, I am not sensitive to corn. I think some of these places must use wheat flour in the processing plant, or on their hands, etc and dont bother to mention it. They do not understand the problem with cross-contammination. So, unless I could get a thorough explanation about how these cookies were made and what steps were taken to prevent cross contammination from other products in their plant, no I would not eat them.

From: JimEva3 <jimeva3@...> Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2009 7:29:37 AMSubject: [ ] Rico Pan Bakery - Corn Cookies

I picked up some Corn Cookies (Galletas de Maiz) while buying lunch at the Mexico Tortilla Factory & Delicatessen in Newark, CA. I called the bakery (Rico Pan Bakery, LLC, 8830 International Blvd. Oakland, CA 94621, 510.376.7156) and was told that the cookies are gluten free (ingredients: corn flour, vegetable shortening-- no trans fats--, Sugar, Molasses, Eggs, Cinnamon, Vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda). When I asked if they could confirm that the corn flour was processed on machinery that had not also processed wheat or barley, they didn't sound super confident. But they did say that they planned to add 'gluten free' to future packaging because of the surprising popularity of the cookies in the GF community.So, how do we know? Would you guys eat them? My wife tried one and, so far so good.

[Guest guest]

I eat some flavors of these tamales often and have done so for years. They have never made me sick. Perhaps only one flavor has cross-contamination, or perhaps you're sensitive to some ingredient. I also use their tortillas, very frequently. I react strongly to gluten, dread eating out.

H.

In a message dated 4/13/09 11:44:30 PM, kristin_boston@... writes:

I tried some corn tamales from the refridgerated section of Whole Foods that should have been gluten-free according to the ingredients, though they were not labeled gluten-free.  They were made by a small local Mexican food baker/preparer.  They made me very sick! 

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