Monday 12 November 2007

Fructose Friendly Dining Out

A reader sent the following email to us:

I am a fellow sufferer of fructose malabsorption. I found myself on Friday night in the middle of the city stuck for places to eat.
Finding wheat free is the easy part, but onion free seems to exclude so much (it’s in so many sauces and the basis for most dishes), that we ended up at Melbourne Central food court with tasteless salads feeling rather depressed.
I’ve managed to modify diets at home with ease, as we tend to cook everything from scratch which is actually a blessing in disguise, but eating out continuously proves a problem.
There is increasing awareness about gluten free at restaurants now, but nowhere is fructose friendly, or able to be modified to fructose free because of the onion. I was wondering if you’d come across or knew about any places in and around the city that you could find a quick, relatively cheap eat without having to worry about onion or simply order a bowl of chips (boy am I sick of ordering chips).
I thought maybe it would make a good blog entry.
If not, and in the future I come across some myself I will let you know.


We couldn't agree more. Onion is everywhere and very hard to avoid. We have the same problem and get very disheartened to the point that we would rather not go out at all versus eating something and end up regretting it.

So, we have started a list of the places that we know of. These are places that either adertise themselves as being fructose friendly and/or they are flexible enough with their menu and attitude to enable diners to avoid fructose un-friendly ingredients.

The list isn't large, but with your help, we hope it will become so.

The usual disclaimer applies: Check with the venue first. Talk to the staff and let them know your requirements. We have no connection with these businesses other than as happy customers.

  • Silly Yaks Bakery - 105 High St.,Northcote Phone: (03) 9482 3999
    This cafe/bakery will be well known to coeliacs in Melbourne as they sell a large range of GF cakes, bread, pizza bases and even their own range of GF beer. This is a must visit location especially for a great breakfast that goes most of the day.
    www.sillyyak.com.au

  • S.Komatsu Restaurant - 62 Wellington Parade,East Melbourne Phone: 03 9415 7266
    We haven't visited here as yet but S.Komatsu advertises itself as gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly. Some friends have dined there and really enjoyed it. This will be a dinner destination for us very soon. UPDATE: Unfortunately, S.Komatsu is currently closed
    www.nexgeneats.com/s.komatsu/index.html

  • Crust Pizza - Various Locations
    This is a new gourmet style pizza chain that also is very aware of food allergies. Gluten and Dairy free pizza bases can be requested and you can build your own pizza using the high quality, fresh ingredients that they have. (None of that pink, processed stuff that other pizza joints call ham).
    Crust have been awarded the Heart Foundation Heart Tick for 6 of their pizzas. Reported in "The Age on 12 Feb 2008
    www.crust.com.au

  • Sandbelt Club Hotel - 630 South Road Moorabbin, VIC 3189 Phone:(03) 9555 6899
    This hotel was recently renovated and the bistro now offers gluten free options and the staff are very knowledgeable and very willing to please. Dishes such as the roast of the day and fish of the day are my choice as the fish (salmon sometimes) is simply grilled and presented with a good selection of steamed vegetables.
    www.sandbeltclubhotel.com.au


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Please let us know if you try somewhere and would like others to know about it. Email us at: glutenfreevictoria@gmail.com

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Tuesday 30 October 2007

The Irresistible Gluten Free Wheat Free Food Show - Report

The Show has come and gone and was definately bigger and better than last year.


Like many hundreds, if not thousands, of others, we were at Jeffs Shed well before opening time of 10:00am on Saturday and lined up. The photo shows some of the eager showgoers who were lined up after us. This line, extended OUT the door and on to Clarendon St! (There were many hundreds in front of us.)

Once the doors opened, we were soon inside and the circulating and sampling began.

Some of the samples we tasted included:
  • Chocolate Soy Milk
  • Pizza bases
  • Beer
  • Biscuits
  • Maple syrup. Much like creamed honey
  • Several Dips
  • Falafel balls
  • Spam (Who knew that Spam has been gluten free for a very long time?? The Spicy Spam certainly had a kick to it!! I suspect it upset my stomach though.)



It was great to catch up with Rick & Rhonda of Uncle Ricks (Now part of Patties) We asked if there was any chance of some of our old favourite products turning up under the Patties label? Consumers, like us, will have to convince Patties that there is a market for the products so get your emails, letters etc. in to Patties. That is only the first hurdle though. Then the supermarkets have to stock the product. That can be difficult also. The more people that put in their requests, the higher chance that the product will get into production.

Very similar story over at the Healtheries stand where we asked about their Simple Bread mix that we love as it produces a great tasting loaf of white bread. It has disappeared from the supermarket shelves.
Seems that the supermarkets weren't selling enough and have now dropped the product. Healtheries are looking at maybe selling the mix via their website but that is not a certainty. Again, if you like the product, make sure that you let them know. We will.

There were several producers of pizza bases with their wares for sampling and sale. This was great to see. It has been difficult to find a pizza base that is both gluten and dairy free that has a decent taste and texture. Hopefully that is about to change with all these new offerings. (I still think that Uncle Ricks pizza bases were the best I've ever had. I hope they will bring them back)


This year seemed to be geared more towards manufacturers and suppliers of products, but few (if any) local restaurants and cafes had stalls this year. Which is a shame, as finding somewhere suitable to eat out that is gluten free is both difficult and stressful.

A big Thanks to Sue Shepherd and her team for putting this all together. It must be a hell of a job. We look forward to next years show.

Sunday 14 October 2007

Irresistible Gluten Free Wheat Free Food Show

The Irresistible Gluten Free Wheat Free Food Show is on at Jeffs Shed (aka the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre) this weekend, 20 & 21 October, 2007.

This show is the creation of Sue Shepherd, a Melbourne based dietian specialising in coeliac disease (and fructose malabsorption). (I am sure you will read more about Sue in this blog as she has published some great recipe books and also produces a range of lollies)

Get full details of the show (and Sue Shepherd) at http://www.coeliac.com.au/

2007 will be the second year of the show. 2006 was a one day event in Melbourne and was huge. We attended along with several thousand others all circulating through the displays and sampling many of the products that were on offer. (It was shoulder to shoulder!)

We look forward to seeing all the new products that have just hit the market or will be in the future. (Last year, Freedom Foods were giving out samples of their crumbed chicken and fish products that were not available in stores until well after the event)

If you are a manufacturer/supplier then my tip is to make sure that you have PLENTY of samples available to give away. I believe that many suppliers ran out very early in the day last year.

See you there!!


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Tuesday 29 May 2007

Mother Earth Popcorn...Gone

A favorite snack of ours has been Mother Earth Popcorn. Very tasty and with none of the added rubbish that is in many other snack foods.

Lately, though, it has become very hard to find in supermarkets. A visit to their website at www.motherearthfoods.net ominously does not show the popcorn as one of their products!. A quick email was sent and the following reply was received:

"Sadly the Mother Earth popcorn is no longer being manufactured."


Interestingly, Mother Earth is a brand of Cadbury-Schweppes with the products being manufactured in New Zealand. No reason was given for the product withdrawal.

It's a shame that the popcorn is no more. We will miss it.

UPDATE There has been plenty of interest in this blog entry and I am not surprised.
If you would like to enquire/complain yourself, then email:

consumer.services.asia.pacific@ap.csplc.com

Friday 25 May 2007

The Impact of a Gluten Free & Dairy Free Diet on Autism

I stumbled upon on interesting article in the Brisbane Times newspaper regarding the impact of a gluten free & dairy free diet on children with Autism, ADHD, asthma & allergies.

Brisbane Times: "A Fresh Approach" Anne Susskind 10 May, 2007

Saturday 19 May 2007

Uncle Rick's available now

At last it is good to see a few of the Uncle Rick's/Patties staples starting to appear in my local Coles supermarket.

I bought Partie Pies, Big Meat Pies and some Sticky Date Puddings all of which are dairy free and appearing to be fructose friendly.

We've also noticed a new section on the Patties website specifically for the new gluten free range from Uncle Rick. The site is new and still needs some work as there is no ingredient lists. See www.patties.com.au/glutenfree/

We hope that lots of people will buy these products and spur them on to extend the product range to include pizza bases and pikelets which we are really missing at our house.

Monday 30 April 2007

Uncle Rick & Patties Update

In an earlier post (Where is Uncle Rick?) we mentioned that Patties (and the old Uncle Ricks) were launching their new gluten free, dairy free range on the 16th of April to be made available via Coles. Well, the 16th came and went and we still hadn't seen anything in store.

However, we have been advised today (30th April) by Coles that the products will start appearing in store from Monday the 7th of May, 2007. (Just one week away)

We'll be on the lookout for them. Let us know if you see them and what you think.

New Products from Freedom Foods


Whilst wandering the aisles in Coles recently we discovered the newly released range of gluten free products from
Freedom Foods www.freedomfoods.com.au

All products are gluten free and some are also dairy free. We tried out the frozen Crumbed Chicken Tenders and found them to be very tasty. (We'll be sure to keep some in the freezer)

The Freedom Foods website contains excellent nutritional information about the products. Read what's in the Crumbed Chicken Tenders here.

Thursday 5 April 2007

Dairy Free Easter Eggs 2007

With Easter upon us, traditionally my local Easter Bunny has a tough time finding chocolate treats for me that are dairy free.

He (The Easter Bunny) has found an excellent source of dairy free Easter chocolates from a local Melbourne company called Alpha Confectionery based in Balaclava.

The make a range of Easter chocolate eggs that are free from all animal based ingredients which makes them attractive to vegans also.



You will find very little mention of Alpha on the Net and they are hard to get on the phone. The main stockists are: David Jones, Myer and Chocolate Box stores.
(Easter Bunny tells me that David Jones in Bourke St. had plenty of stock prior to Easter but that another suburban David Jones had very little left a week prior)

Outside of Easter, Alpha sells a range of products including chocolate coated plums and apricots. (which I can't eat due to a sulphur allergy)

Easter Egg Ingredient List:

  • Sugar
  • Cocoa Mass
  • Cocoa Butter
  • Lecithin (322)
  • Vanillin

Note: I have no connection with Alpha other than as a customer who is happy to be able to enjoy a real Easter egg at this time of year.


I also noticed this year that Target had a range of dairy free and nut free Easter eggs as well. These were Simpsons themed (and a few others) which is great for kids with allergies.

The eggs were from Kinnerton, a UK based company and were made in the UK also. http://www.kinnerton.com

As the packaging says: "dairy free, nut free, and suitable for vegans".

Also check out http://www.kinnerton.com.au for details of some other nut free and dairy free items that we did not know about.

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Wednesday 28 March 2007

Where is Uncle Rick ?

I have been a customer of Uncle Rick's Wheat Gluten & Dairy Free Bakery for some years. (Ever since it was just at the Berwick location. A bit of a hike for me. Glen Waverley is where I usually visit)
Sad news has arrived over the last few months that Uncle Rick's is no more, having now become part of the Patties group.
Any visits to http://www.unclericks.com.au/ now redirect to http://www.patties.com.au/
(There was also an advert in the most recent Coeliac Society publication)
We wish Rick, Rhonda and the whole of the gang all the Very Best with the new venture. (I have no idea if they will still be involved with production at Patties or not)
Some of my favourite Uncle Ricks products are:
  • Pies - The team at Uncle Ricks are very aware of fructose malabsorbtion and some of their pies do NOT contain onion.
  • Pizza Bases (The best around, I think)
  • Pikelets (I should have stocked up on these!!)
  • Lamingtons
I am assuming that the pies will live on at Patties but I am worried about the availability of the other items which are regularly eaten by several members of my family.
Drop us a line at glutenfreevictoria@gmail.com if you have any news on the whereabouts of Uncle Rick and his excellent products.
Note: Again, I have no connection with Uncle Rick's other than as a satisfied customer. (Maybe EX-customer now)

Update:
A quick call to Patties found out the following:

  • Rick & crew are still involved and work out of the Patties gluten free facility in Bairnsdale
  • 16th of April will see a national release of 10 products to be made available via Coles.
    (You can find some Patties products in Richies and other independant supermarkets)
The 10 products are:
  • Sausage Rolls
  • Pizza Rolls
  • Vegie Rolls
  • Lamingtons (Hooray!)
  • Apple Pies
  • Sticky Date Puddings
  • Meat Pies (Hooray again!)
  • Party Pies
  • White Bread
  • Grain Bread
It will be up to each supermarket Manager as to which products they will stock. Ask the Manager if they don't have what you want.
Unfortunately, we weren't aware of Uncle Ricks closing down until after the fact and weren't able to stock up on our favourites. This was disappointing to us.
**Update**: Rick & Rhonda were at the 2011 Irresistible Gluten Free Show.
Keep an eye on what Rick is up to at http://www.rickgrant.com.au/

Why Am I Here?

Welome to the first post for the GlutenFreeVictoria.com site!

I have created this site to share my experiences with you as I live with various food intolerances. I closely follow a diet that is:

  1. Gluten free - (Several tests have confirmed that I am not a coeliac although following a gluten free diet helps me greatly)
  2. Dairy free
  3. Fructose Free - Due to a Fructose Malabsorption problem
  4. ??? - Some other things that I'm unsure about that affect my insides sometimes.

Finding off the shelf products; recipes and restaurants/cafes that can deal with this diet can be challenging, in the least. I live in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia so my blog entries will relate to my local area and the products and places that I have easy access to.

Hopefully, sharing some of my experiences might help others in a similar situation.

Your experiences may help me also.

Contact me at glutenfreevictoria@gmail.com to share your suggestions.

Standard Disclaimer applies: None of the content of this site can be considered as advice and is presented for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice.