Brown Cow Yogurt Offers Gluten-Free Option!

Imagine if you had to avoid an ingredient found in many common foods. So common that it limited the foods you could enjoy and prevented you from eating out. "You never know" if it's actually in the food you're ordering because every ingredient matters.

That ingredient is gluten. Gluten is a very strong group of proteins found in some grains. If you have Celiac Disease, gluten actually destroys part of the small intestine, which results in malabsorption of nutrients. If you have malabsorption, besides losing important nutrients, you're having unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms. One out of 100-133 people have Celiac Disease. Someone you know undoubtedly has gluten sensitivity.

What does this have to do with a yogurt company? As little as 0.1 gram of gluten has been shown to cause damage to the intestine of a celiac. Becoming Certified Gluten Free is no small feat. Any trace of gluten must be eliminated and documented as such.

Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats with several "cousins" of gluten like spelt, triticale, semolina, durum, farina, couscous, etc. Many products are made with these grains, like malt flavoring, soy sauce, some vinegars, food starches, nutrient supplements, artificial and natural flavorings, artificial colors and hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, etc. Many combination foods may utilize a gluten-containing grain or by-product in the manufacturing process, or as an ingredient. A product might contain gluten or been in contact with a possible gluten source and still needs to be avoided. A company can list malt or starch and may vary using corn or barley but the product has to always be avoided. This leaves a very limited world for the gluten sensitive.

While Brown Cow yogurt has never been made with malt, artificial flavorings or colors, the fruit preserves offered possible gluten "contamination". Previously, only plain yogurts could be guaranteed to be gluten-free because of the risk of harming gluten-sensitive people. Now Brown Cow is the first yogurt to be Certified Gluten-free. ALL the yogurts except the Fruit & Whole Grains yogurts, (for obvious reasons) are gluten-free!

As a Practicing Nutritionist who has worked with celiacs, and other folks who are gluten sensitive or allergic to wheat, I am thrilled to know there's a delicious, calcium-rich option that can be safely enjoyed by everyone! Thank you Brown Cow!

Vicki Koenig, MS, RD, CDN
Consulting Nutritionist