I wrote an email to Kraft Foods regarding their use of maltodextrine in their dry-roasted peanuts. I’d felt a mild reaction to something I ate during the day, and wanted to rule this out. Thanks to some handouts my nutritionist gave me, I knew maltodextrine could be wheat or corn-based. I was hoping it was the latter.
I received the following reply from Kim in their customer service department within three to four hours; the best reply from any food manufacturer that has even bothered replying to my inquiries. Read on…
Hi Bill,
Thank you for visiting http://www.kraftfoods.com/.We understand how important it is for people who have been medically diagnosed with gluten sensitivity to have accurate information about foods to help plan their meals and diets. Therefore, it has been a long standing policy for all Kraft and Nabisco products to list ingredients that contain gluten on the ingredient statement. These items will be listed using commonly known terms such as Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye. For other ingredients that contain gluten, the grain source will be declared in parenthesis after the ingredient name. For example, if the ingredient “natural flavor” contains a gluten source, the label would read: natural flavor (contains rye). Other ingredients that contain gluten are: Triticale, Spelt, Kamut, Mir or Farina (also known as Far or Farro).
For Kraft-branded products that contain vinegar, information from our vinegar suppliers assures us that the vinegar we use in our products is gluten free. All vinegar is distilled and through the distilling process protein gluten is removed.
Therefore if the Maltodextrin used in any of our products is from Wheat, we will declare as ‘wheat maltodextrin’ on the label.
We encourage our consumers to look at the packaging as formulations may change from time to time, the most up to date information on the product will always be the product packaging.
I hope this assists you in making food choices that are appropriate for your personal needs. If you have additional questions about your personal dietary needs, please consult your doctor or a registered dietician.
Lastly, here’s a link for more information on Choosing Gluten Free Foods.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/HealthyLiving/Articles/FoodAllergiesSensitivities/GlutenFreeFoods.htm
Thank you for contacting us and please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!
Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations
I can’t speak to Kraft’s overall corporate reputation, but they did good in this round. So listen up, food companies; this goes to show how a rather simple gesture will ensure repeat customers.
