Boulder Brands brings their Glutino, Udi, Evol, and Earth Balance to Natural Products Expo West each year and makes a breakfast out of it. This year, it was housed outside underneath a huge tent. I am appreciative of anything gluten free and especially when it comes to Glutino and Udi's.
However this year, something odd happened. The Marriott hotel servers were telling people that only part of the breakfast was gluten free. When a server told me that, I questioned her, saying that all the bread goods were gluten free because beyond Evol, Boulder Brands doesn't make non-gluten free products to my understanding.
She checked with a head server who confirmed what she told me: that only the front triangle section was gluten free and the rest was not. That included the baked goods beyond that front section. And the section from which I had just grabbed some muffins from. I knew the information was false, but anytime someone tells me something is not gluten free, I'm going to have to listen. Especially when I'm going to be away from a bathroom for the next 12 hours.
Reoccurring
The same thing happened last year at the Gluten Free Expo in Pasadena. The GF Expo was clear in saying that everything served was gluten free but the servers were confused because there was a Vegan section which they interpreted as NOT gluten free.
The server at Expo West pointed to the toaster sign indicating that it meant only that section was gluten free. They however, as I understand it, put the sign up so attendees know that the toaster is a dedicated toaster.
Evol Contributes
The Boulder Brands acquisition of Evol several years ago can partly be blamed as well. Evol is not entirely gluten free while Earth Balance, Glutino, and Udi's are. I was skeptical when I discussed this with reps from the company. When you are a dedicated gluten free company but then bring a brand that is not, it calls into question the entire company and whether all the products are really gluten free or just labelled gluten free and then in tiny print states that it shares equipment that processes wheat. I know that's that not the case for Boulder Brands but it raises doubts and that's not beneficial for a company.
So, technically, the servers were right in saying that the entire breakfast was not gluten free because Evol products that were not gluten free were served. They were however wrong in saying that the the entire back section of the breakfast including the baked goods was not gluten free.
On a good note, I didn't have any major gastro problems beyond being gassy toward the end of it. So it's safe to say I didn't eat anything I shouldn't have.
But it'd probably be a good idea for the show organizers to insure that every server know all the details about the breakfast so that in turn, all the attendees know that as well.
Side note: Looks like Boulder Brands needs a better Twitter handle since everyone was tweeting at an account that looks bogus.
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