Our trip to Natural Products Expo East 2014 earlier this month proved one thing for certain: the wave of gluten-free foods isn't dying down anytime soon. These days, it almost feels de rigueur for a natural product to tout a gluten-free certification.
And glory be: The days of “just good enough” or cardboard-texture gluten-free foods are truly a distant memory. Delicious, excellent-texture offerings are now standard, thanks to ongoing manufacturing innovation and increasing use of nutrient-rich, real-food ingredients.
These 10 foods spotted on the show floor are just a small sampling of the many worthy gluten-free finds we saw. Look for them on store shelves soon—or as your local natural retailer to stock an item you're excited about.
One looking-forward thought: Though gluten-free isn’t going anywhere, we’re hearing rumblings about “low-gluten” foods for people who may feel better on a GF diet but who don’t need to eliminate gluten 100 percent for medical reasons. We’re interested to see how “low-gluten” or “healthy gluten” foods—featuring heirloom wheat varieties like khorasan and freekah, which purportedly digest much better than highly processed gluten-containing foods—fare in the near future.
