Lisa Shops for Allergen-Free All Purpose Flour

I got a question from the Boyle family with a severe nut allergy since 7/08 regarding where to find all purpose flour when avoiding nuts, dairy, flour or wheat and eggs. I sent out requests from several flour manufacturing companies and am waiting to hear back from most of them, but thought I would share with you what I found out from Bob’s Red Mill.

I am just going to copy the email sent to me from Bob’s Red Mill Customer Service.

“We are mindful of the concerns of the allergen-sensitive community and we utilize ‘Good Manufacturing Practices’ to diminish any risk of allergen cross-contact. We segregate our ingredients and thoroughly clean our equipment between production runs with high powered air pressure. Also, the first 30 lbs of product run on any line is purged and not packaged.

It is Bob's Red Mill's policy and practice to apply elective allergen advisory statements to all Bob's Red Mill product labels.

Gluten Free products bear the following statement:
‘Manufactured in a facility that also uses tree nuts and soy.’

Any labels seen without an allergy advisory statement were produced prior to our recent implementation of this practice. Our labels will be replaced with the newer version as soon as existing stock runs out.

We do not have peanuts or shellfish at our facility.”

Ok, so that is one, but I still want to find one completely free of tree nuts, I will keep you posted as I get information back from the manufacturers.
Until then, you can also do some digging; I listed some allergen-free flour manufacturers and what I know about them based on packaging. I also included manufacturers that make rice flours and other types, so you can mix your own blend of all-purpose flour.

BEWARE: Manufacturers are changing their packaging and manufacturing practices all the time, it is important you read the label every time before buying.

• Arrowhead Mills – gluten free, wheat free, organic, this company also manufacturers nut butters, I am waiting to hear back from them on what other allergies are of concern. Arrowhead Mills manufacturers Blue Corn Meal, White Rice Flour, Millet Flour, Oat Flour and Yellow Corn Meal http://www.arrowheadmills.com/
  
• Domata Living Flour – This all purpose mix contains Rice Flour, Corn Starch, Tapioca Dextrin, Xanthan Gum and they maintain to be dairy, sugar and wheat/gluten free, in fact they were “Awarded the Celiac Sprue Association Seal of Recognition for meeting the strictest criteria in Product, Processing, and Packaging”. http://www.domatalivingflour.com/
  
• Authentic Foods (Bette Hagman's 4 Flour Blend) contains Brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, potato starch, xanthan gum, the site states that this product is gluten, soy and dairy free. They are closed for the holidays until next week. http://www.authenticfoods.com/
  

This will give you a good start, I will keep looking and get back to you as I hear back, I know how important it is to find the right product for your family. Feel free to send me an questions you have, I will start digging, we can all learn together.

On to the food!
This recipe I learned in school and modified it to be safe allergen free. It came out wonderfully and now is one of our families favorites, enjoy!

Chicken Marsala
Serves 4



Extra virgin olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut in ½
1 cup rice flour
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
½ onion, diced
¼ cup white wine
½ cup chicken broth

Take chicken breasts and put in large plastic bag.
Pound breasts until they're all at equal thicknesses.
Pre-heat sauté pan to medium and add extra virgin olive oil.
Dip chicken in mixture of flour and salt and coat on both sides, shake excess flour mix off chicken.
Sauté chicken breasts, about 4 minutes on each side, remove from pan.
Add a little more extra virgin olive oil and onions and mushrooms, cook until slightly browned.
Add wine and chicken stock and scrape crumbles from bottom of pan.
Reduce liquid down and add back in chicken breasts to reheat.