ABO Linseed (flax) loaf – naturally gluten free
Yesterday and today, I’ve been eating the linseed loaf from Artisan Bread Organic – billed as “naturally gluten free”. However, like the buckwheat loaf, when you inspect the ingredients list, you find that this is not guaranteed.
On the front of the pack it says: Contains one HEAPED TEASPOON of freshly ground linseed per slice. Do not toast this bread.
Here are the ingredients, as shown on the packet:
Freshly milled (on our in-house gluten free mill) demeter wholegrain rice flour and demeter whole rice (51%), revitalised filtered water, freshly ground whole organic linseed (9%), natural leaven (gluten free)*, sea salt.
Contains Naturally gluten free
May contain Sesame seeds, gluten.
There it is again: “May contain… gluten”. Yet it is sold as gluten free. So this loaf, like the buckwheat is not safe for celiacs. At least water appears only third on the list of ingredients this time!
I noticed both on this and the other loaf that demeter appears to be regarded as a very special type of rice (or at least, they’d like you to think so), but I can’t find anything online saying what is special about it. Maybe it’s just a brand or buzzword with no intrinsic meaning.
The linseed loaf is as ungiving when you squeeze it as the buckwheat, so I decided to slice it thinly again. The loaf is not as large as the buckwheat, it has the same width and depth, but the height is probably about 80% of the height of the buckwheat loaf.
As you can see, the bread is quite dense, but also crumbly. It’s quite difficult to get a whole slice. When buttered and nibbled, it’s quite dry and very crumbly, turning into a sand-like consistency in the mouth, although it tastes better than that sounds.
Yesterday, I tried one slice with some cheese, and this was quite tasty. I ate a total of 3 slices, one with cheese and butter, one with just butter and the third, later on, with the thin smear of raspberry preserve that I generally prefer. The flavor of this loaf is not so aggressive that it blots out all other flavors.
Today, I bought some marmalade, and tried a couple of slices with that. It was ok, but the sandy texture is a little offputting. I won’t be buying this again.
I have a couple of slices of this loaf left. If I don’t eat them today, I will finish it off tomorrow, before moving on to another loaf.
UPDATE. In case there’s any doubt, here’s a picture of the ingredients list.
Artisan Bread Linseed Bread
My name is Ingrid – I have devoted my life to making healthy food but I am also a foodie. I was brought up on vegetables and fruit from our own garden grown without chemicals and although I am a vegan now we used to eat fish that my father caught in clear streams. I was at least 10 years old when I had my first food from a tin! The linseed bread is my absolute favourite – it has a hard crust and a soft centre – it reminds me of good chocolate. I just had three slices before sitting down to write this.
We tried making rice and linseed bread with bought-in rice flour – it was always bitter whatever we did. As we mill all of our other grains fresh we decided to buy a special mill for the gluten free grains and that is what we do every day. The oils in rice oxidise – that is they are no longer healthy and they taste bitter. That is why industrial bread is full of egg powder or a lot of salt and sugar to mask that bitter flavour.
Just to explain some of your issues:
You mock Demeter. Please believe me, biodynamic is indeed something special. It is the spiritual science as founded by Rudolf Steiner. He gave his first lectures in the 1920′s at the height of a foot & mouth epidemic sweeping his country. The farmers listened because they had nothing to lose. They followed his lectures and brought their farm back to health. Biodynamic food is produced to very strict guidelines pre-dating organic agriculture. To prove to you how powerful this can be you need to turn the clock back to last August. As many know there was an almost global failure of crops due to bad weather. European grain harvests were flattened by heavy rains. The grain had to be dried at great expense and much was not useful food food production. Could a little book for £ 6.99 have saved the UK grain harvest in the summer of 2008?
Maria Thun’s ‘Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar’ (available from Floris books and Amazon) said it would be wise to have all grains harvested by the 12th of August 2008! We can’t help thinking if all farmers had bought one – it could have saved the harvest…? In our area the rains started on the 13th August 2008 and flattened many fields.
Biodynamic – more than organic!
Demeter product quality is based on the spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Demeter standards are in addition to requirements for organic products.
Bio (organic) dynamic (cosmic forces): farming with homoeopathic preparations to a planetary calendar, predating organic agriculture. Demeter is the trademark for food from biodynamic production. ‘Food is especially nourishing when its inner quality is appropriately and harmoniously developed. Demeter food provides the basis not only for bodily nutrition but also for the soul and spiritual life’
Ref: Demeter Processing Standards for Biodynamic Food Production Issue 02, 2005. http://www.biodynamic.org.uk
You are annoyed at our claim ‘may contain’ gluten.
Why do your breads suitable for a gluten free diet say: ‘may contain gluten’?
We make every effort to keep our gluten-free breads free from gluten, including a separate area with dedicated mill, mixing bowls, baking tins, containers, utensils, but we also make bread with gluten in the same bakery. Our risk assessment concluded that we cannot guarantee that every loaf will be 100% gluten free. We have many satisfied customers for our gluten free bread, including coeliacs and those with gluten intolerance – see ‘What people say’.
Please don’t be disappointed – our bread is the best (naturally) gluten free bread you can buy. We don’t want to be shouted at for following the law but we are about making REALLY TASTY and HEALTHY bread because it is the only bread we would eat ourselves.
We are following the legally prescribed way to label our products. All labels have been passed by Trading Standards. There are a lot of producers out there who do not label their products correctly but are probably easier to understand. On the other hand it is irresponsible to label products wrongly.
By law a producer has to do a risk assessment, and the words ‘may contain gluten’ are legally prescribed if contamination is found to be a possible risk in the risk assessment. You will see lots of ‘may contain’ labels on the shelves. The ingredients have to be listed first – then you have to repeat known allergens by saying contains: …. and then you have to say ‘may contain’ if there is a risk. It does not mean you put it there.
Once upon a time a producer was allowed to use common sense to describe the production. On old labels it used to say things like ‘made in a bakery where gluten is used’ or ‘we also make non-gluten bread’ or ‘nuts are used in this factory’ etc. etc. None of these phrases are allowed any more.
May contain is the only legally allowed phrase if there is the slightest risk.
We say ‘naturally’ gluten free – Why? Because you can buy a wheat bread which is gluten free. The gluten has been removed from the wheat in a technical process that we are not familiar with – probably highly processed. These breads are not naturally gluten free. The grains we use have by NATURE no gluten – BIG DIFFERENCE.
You can buy Coeliac-approved bread in chemists and Supermarkets which to me and many others is so horrible that you might as well eat a bowl of rice – much nicer. It may be gluten free but it is also full of additives and stabilisers – and tastes chemical. Or you can buy bread which is made in a gluten free environment from oxidised flour and with gums added to hold it together. We see no health giving-property in that and certainly no pleasure in eating it. The choice is yours.
One day we will have a separate premises for our gluten-free products, then we will apply for the Coeliac symbol. We could technically apply for the crossed grain coeliac symbol on our products now, as other producers have a similar setup to ours, and yet their products do carry the crossed grain symbol. However we don’t feel that is adequate protection for the consumer, that is why we keep campaigning for stricter licensing laws, for example: we have campaigned over many years for the use of only organic yeast in organic products rather than allowing genetically modified yeast. See News
Our bread is not just made for people with a food intolerance, allergy or coeliac disease: Our aim is to make bread that tastes good for everyone and is as healthy as possible too. If you like our bread, then please tell all your friends about us. Please let us know what you think if you are going to buy the bread! Enjoy.
Is ‘wheat-free’ the same as ‘gluten-free’?
Gluten is a protein present is many grains, such as wheat, rye, spelt, barley. These grains are not gluten-free unless the gluten has been removed by a special process. That is why it is possible to get gluten-free bread containing wheat flour, usually available on prescription for coeliacs. Artisan bread only uses naturally gluten-free grains such as rice, quinoa, buckwheat and millet. These gluten-free grains are also wheat-free because they do not contain wheat.
Revitalised water – You may mock it but there is a lot to it – many books and research is based on water technology and the effect on the human body. Why do pilgrims go to Lourdes to take the water – See Dr. Hado’s research into water, read about Schauberger and read about the Grander Water? Why does a swimming pool that uses Grander Technology stay clean without adding Chlorine to the water? Why does the government reserve of drinking water remain fit to drink in storage tanks?
You might want to read the comments from Gerard Craddock on our website who became quite unwell from eating prescription bread and who has regained his energy and vitality from eating naturally made bread.
Squeezing a loaf for freshness is pretty meaningless. In industrial bread added enzymes keep bread soft for weeks. The preservatives keep it artificially fresh. In natural bread this role is done by increasing the acidity in the bread – ideally by increasing the lactic acid through careful long fermentation. Lactic acids help to digest. Our quinoa is totally soft for days – why – because it has a high protein contents. Rice bread is quite hard BY NATURE. All our breads are totally different and it is an experience to taste your way through a whole raft of flavours and textures. You obviously only know rye bread and supermarket soft bread. Are you not concerned about your health?
Are you not worried about some of the unnatural ingredients in the ‘Genius’ bread – it is genius – it is selling you very cheap ingredients at a very expensive price. This is just about making money and mouthfeel – we care about what happens in your body when you have eaten our bread. We start where others are no longer concerned.
Potato Starch is very cheap – it is also a nightshade and not suitable for blood group A and O’s – which is basically 85% of the population! Egg White (undoubtedly from factory farming) and very cheap, Vegetable oil probably means corn oil – high in Omega 6 and can cause heart disease, Cellulose (tell me it’s not made from wood) Xanthan Gum – the magic ingredient in all gluten free breads made from weird ingredients. Xanthan gum is E415 is made by fermenting a bacterium (ok for toothpaste but what it is doing in food?) The only ok ingredient in Genius is rice flour and rice bran. But there is more sugar in it than rice flour.
The ‘Brown’ bread is coloured with treacle = sugar???
This is the other side explained. Each of our bread even tells you for which blood group and which GenoType they are suitable. It is in the end a matter of choice but I wanted to give you some information that goes a bit deeper and then you can make an informed choice.
Food can be your medicine or your poison. You choose.
Thanks for clearing up the demeter query. I admit my comments may have been a little harsh, and I apologise for that. I have heard about biodynamics, is that the one where you plant by the phases of the moon? If so, I have to say that it’s highly unlikely you will get many people to follow it, whether it works or not, because people instinctively shy away from anything they consider to be “woowoo” as they say. And even those who aren’t scared of it, if professional farmers, will most likely say it’s just not practical.
Now, me, I’m a big follower of “the Secret” so woowoo doesn’t bother me a bit!
However, I’ve never been a big bread eater. I used to eat it mainly as toast, or to hold the contents of a sandwich. This is what I’ve missed. Bread for me is not meant to mask the flavor of what you eat it with, in these cases. It’s just a carrier. I’ve missed the ease of making a sandwich – which I stack up with lots of salad. I’m sorry, but the loaves I’ve tasted from your company so far are just not suitable for either of these purposes.
People who want to eat bread that is a thing in itself, not a carrier for other food, may well like your bread, and may also be pleased with its wholesomeness. But I don’t want that. If I want something tasty, I cook something – and I usually put in lots of garlic and, yes nightshades – aubergine, tomatoes, peppers, and/or potatoes. This makes for a varied diet, which is a healthy diet.
I’m not deliberately trying to dislike your products, but equally I will not lie and say I think they’re wonderful if I don’t. We all have different tastes. Unfortunately, mine does not seem to be for your products.
As for the “may contain gluten” tag, yes, I know that the UK law insists this is put on in circumstances such as you describe. The problem is that, if a person is a coeliac/celiac and they are following a 100% gluten free diet, this means that they should avoid your bread, because it is not guaranteed not to be cross-contaminated, and the merest hint is damaging to a celiac. Life expectancy of celiacs is directly proportionate to their adherence to a 100% gluten free diet. It is not your fault that the law says this, and it is not my fault that this means celiacs should avoid it.