Have you ever gone grocery shopping for gluten-free food before? There is a bit of a “learning curve” involved in doing this successfully. It helps if you learn about what kinds of foods are gluten-free before you ever step foot into the grocery store. After that, it is just a matter of knowing where to look.
If you have to stay on a gluten-free diet, then the produce section of the grocery store is about to become your new best friend. Fruits and veggies are naturally gluten-free. This is because gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, and other kinds of grains.
In other words, you can eat whatever vegetables you desire, so long as they haven’t been battered, and deep fried. It’s the batter that you have to watch out for, because it probably contains wheat. Fruits are going to be safe for people who need to avoid gluten too, (for the most part). If you are like me, then you probably have food allergies to more than just gluten. You should still be able to find vegetables and fruits that you are not allergic to. Most produce sections have a wide variety of things to choose from.
One of the grocery stores I shop at is Vons. They have started putting colorful tags on some of their foods, which can be somewhat helpful. These shelf tags are part of a program called “Simple Nutrition”. Each tag will show one or two different things about the food it is connected with. One of the tags is an orange-red color, and it says “Gluten Free”.
This system can help you find some foods that you might not have been aware were free of gluten. I would strongly suggest reading the labels anyway, just in case. The old saying “It is better to be safe than sorry” is one that holds a lot of wisdom for people with food allergies.
Vons also has certain sections that contain gluten-free foods. I noticed that there is a small group of shelves of gluten-free foods that is located in the middle of the aisle that has pasta in it. There is another set of shelves that is located towards the front of the store, near the cash registers. You can also find some gluten-free frozen foods in the freezer next to the Bakery. One last place to check is the frozen food section where they keep the organic frozen food.
Trader Joe’s also has a ton of gluten-free foods, scattered all over the store. You can print out a list of all of the gluten-free foods that this store sells. They suggest that you read the labels anyway, which is always a good idea. Bring the list with you when you go grocery shopping. A Trader Joe’s employee can help you find the food.
Image by Bradley Gordon on Flickr