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ALLERGY THREAT: A TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION

Whole Foods pulls 'gluten-free' products from shelves after Tribune story

Report a month ago had found high levels of allergen in products

By Sam Roe

Tribune reporter

December 31, 2008

Responding to a Tribune investigation and mounting consumer pressure, Whole Foods Market said Tuesday it has pulled three popular "gluten-free" products because the items actually contain the substance.

The grocery chain also said it will devise a strict definition of "gluten-free" for products sold in its stores and begin monitoring the items so such problems don't recur.

The Tribune reported last month that its testing showed three Wellshire Kids brand "gluten-free" products sold exclusively at Whole Foods—Dinosaur Shapes Chicken Bites, Chicken Corn Dogs and Beef Corn Dogs—contained between 116 and 2,200 parts per million of gluten.

While the federal legal definition of "gluten-free" is imprecise, most experts view "gluten-free" as containing less than 20 ppm.

Gluten— a protein found in wheat, rye and barley— can cause allergic reactions in those with wheat allergies and severe abdominal pain in those with celiac disease.

After the Tribune's report, Whole Foods initially balked at removing the products, saying it was the supplier's responsibility to ensure the items were safe and legal.

But in subsequent days, Whole Foods received about 20 consumer complaints or inquiries, including from those who thought "gluten-free" meant zero-gluten, company spokeswoman Libba Letton said. The Austin, Texas-based chain pulled the products nationwide, but could not say how many items or how many of its 279 stores were affected.

"Listening to what our customers had to say, in addition to looking at the facts, we decided we just needed to go ahead and pull the products," Letton said.

Peggy Pridemore, whose 4-year-old son with a known wheat allergy had a severe reaction after eating the chicken bites last December, said she welcomed Whole Foods' action but wished the chain had done so weeks ago.

"It's shameful that it wasn't done sooner because they were knowingly putting customers in jeopardy," said Pridemore, of Hebron, Ky.

Her son is one of at least two children with wheat allergies treated at hospitals after eating the chicken bites.

The gluten-free market has boomed in recent years as stores have sought to attract customers allergic to wheat; those with celiac disease; and parents of autistic children who believe a gluten-free diet can reduce symptoms. Whole Foods, for instance, offers store tours of its gluten-free products and operates a dedicated "Gluten-Free Bakehouse" in North Carolina.

The chain said it began pulling the three products about a month after the Tribune's Nov. 21 report. They were made by New Jersey-based Wellshire Farms, whose owner, Louis Colameco, said the company stopped making them in June after discovering that the batter coating the food contained gluten.

Still, Wellshire Farms continued to ship the products already in stock to Whole Foods, and the retailer continued to sell them.

Colameco said he was disappointed Whole Foods decided to pull the products. "But they're the customer," he said. "What are you going to say?"

He said his firm has found a new batter supplier that can guarantee less than 20 ppm of gluten. The newly formulated products should be back on shelves in a couple of months, he said. And before distributing them, he said, Wellshire will conduct gluten tests throughout the production process.

Asked why he does not contact regulators and formally issue a recall for the three products, Colameco said the items do not violate any law and that a recall might suggest an admission of guilt, opening him to lawsuits.

The Wellshire Kids products aren't the only Wellshire items with gluten problems.

Colameco acknowledged that his firm markets products identical to the three Wellshire Kids items under a different brand name: Garrett County. This brand, he said, is not sold at Whole Foods but mostly at health-food stores nationwide.

The Gluten-Free Grocery, on Mannheim Road in Westchester, had carried the Garrett County "gluten-free" chicken and beef dogs. But owner Cindy Day Erwin said she pulled them in November after reading about the Tribune report on the Wellshire Kids brands.

"I would be doing a disservice to my customers to allow a product that has known gluten concerns" to be for sale, she said.

The Tribune recently purchased the Garrett County brand chicken bites, chicken dogs and beef dogs and had them tested at a University of Nebraska laboratory specializing in food allergens. The results showed gluten levels as high as 2,000 ppm.

Colameco said his firm stopped making the Garrett County brand products the same time it halted production of the Wellshire Kids items. He said he no longer had either brand in stock and did not know how much Garrett County product remained in stores.

sroe@tribune.com