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| Gluten-free product family. Photo: Betty Crocker |
Betty Crocker now offers a line of gluten-free classic dessert mixes -- Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix, Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix, Gluten Free Brownie Mix and Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix.
Among the ingredients in the mix is rice flour, a grain allowed on a gluten-free diet.
While the price point is a little higher than the normal cake mixes (the retail price is usually around $4.49), it saves a trip to the health-food store for your next gluten-free brownie craving. Plus, other comparable gluten-free mixes usually run a price point of $6 and up.
"There was always a premium paid for a product that was considered gluten-free," Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, tells Slashfood. "Now that General Mills has brought that into the mainstream for a much lower price, it's fabulous."
The Betty Crocker Baking Team says they came up with the mixes after witnessing firsthand through two staff members how the disease can affect day-to-day living.
One staffer is a celiac while another's son faced the disease, the company says.
According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, celiac disease, also commonly referred to as a gluten intolerance, is a lifelong, digestive disorder. When celiacs eat foods that contain gluten, it creates "an immune-mediated toxic reaction that causes damage to the small intestine and does not allow food to be properly absorbed."
Gluten is the common name for the proteins in certain grains -- found in all forms of wheat and rye, barley and triticale -- that are harmful to celiacs.
"It's hard to be different, especially when it affects sweet moments with friends and family," the company says on its Web site. "No one wants to miss sharing a birthday cake or see their child have to turn down a homemade cookie from a buddy after a game."
Since June, the mixes have been available in grocery stores nationwide. Plus, all of Betty Crocker Ready-to-Spread Frosting will be labeled as "gluten free" starting this fall.
Have you had the chance to try out these mixes? Let us know how they turned out in the comment section, and read more about gluten-free living at AOL Health.
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