Today’s announcement is another allergy alert for those allergic to wheat, milk or soy if you should consume a product labeled “Plain Bread Crumbs”. At first blush, I was taken back to the Boneless Chicken Ranch cartoon drawn by my favorite cartoonist, Gary Larson. I thought immediately, Isn’t someone who is allergic to wheat going to just walk past this product without even picking it up to read the ingredients label? What is the first ingredient you think of when you hear the word, “bread?” I think of “wheat”. So when I heard the announcement that Dominguez Foods Washington, Inc. of Zillah, Washington is recalling its product labeled, “SU COCINA PAN MOLIDO (Plain Bread Crumbs)” because it may contain undeclared wheat, whey (milk), and soy, I thought, “Duh”.
On the other hand, I do want to alert anyone who has an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat, milk, or soy to know they run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their decision to do so. If you have purchased this product and have these allergies, please refer to the official FDA notice for details regarding you next appropriate action.
Now, back to boneless chickens. There I was, picturing the limp chickens laying around the Boneless Chicken Ranch, wondering could there be a similar creation in the baking industry–“wheat-less bread?” I googled wheat-free bread and found many references to gluten-free bread. I chased a link to “The Gluten Free Diet” website and learned that a gluten free item will always be wheat free, however a wheat free item may not always be gluten free! If you are allergic only to wheat, you can still enjoy grains that contain gluten like rye, barley, malt and some oats. If you are allergic to gluten, you must avoid all foods containing wheat or flour.
This was interesting but didn’t really answer my question, “Can bread exist without wheat”? The definition of “bread” according to OxfordDictionaries.com is a “food made of flour, water, and yeast or another leavening agent, mixed together and baked.” It comes down to the definition of flour. If flour cannot be made from a substance other than wheat then the concept of wheat-less bread would flop to the ground like our chickens at the Boneless Chicken Ranch–staring at us as they lie helplessly with no skeletal support. However, further investigation shows that there are breads that can be made without wheat. According to the “Eating With Food Allergies” website, flour can be made from rice, potatoes, sorghum and beans. Therefore, I deduce that bread could also be made from these other flours.
In conclusion, I was wrong. I should not have assumed that something labeled, “Plain Bread Crumbs,” should always contain wheat. So, next time I am shopping for bread, I will definitely make sure that the label indicates that it contains wheat…to make sure it conforms to my silly notion of what bread is.
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