Lauren Wille

Gluten, a key ingredient in most foods, is toxic to over 1 percent of the American population, and that number is only increasing. The condition is called Celiac Disease, and the hardest food for these people to avoid: baked goods. Some bakers and bakery owners are catering to the needs of Celiac Disease victims, but many are not. Baking gluten-free is expensive, and with the price of ingredients and packaging already being 2-3 percent higher than last year, the importance of gluten-free products in bakeries is up for debate.

As any baker would know, gluten gives elasticity to foods that no other single grain can replicate. Without gluten, baked goods can be gummy, have leaden lumps, or as described by one Celiac of Sacramento, CA, Jennifer Seltzer, tasteless.

According to Gluten-Free Recipes and Tips at epicurious.com, the most satisfying gluten-free recipes include a mixture of grains, as well as some texture-creating ingredients like tapioca, that mimic wheat flour and the chewy feel of products made with it. There’s no doubt that baking gluten-free is a challenge, but with some hard work and experimentation it can be done. With the number of Celiac affected people, one would think more bakeries would be accommodating to this need. So, why aren’t they?  

When preparing food for people with any type of allergy, cross contamination is a big issue. For people with Celiac Disease, it is even bigger. “It literally only takes one crumb to make a Celiac sick,” says Seltzer, a 35-year-old who was diagnosed with the disease 11 years ago. This is where the hiked up price of gluten-free baking comes into play.

In order to ensure that there is absolutely no chance that a food contains gluten, a facility would need to have separate equipment for gluten-free cooking. Using the same tools for gluten-free as you would for any other recipe increases the chance of cross contamination. If a bakery decided to start offering anti-gluten products, they would have to purchase a whole new set of equipment, whether or not the current equipment was cleaned.

Mary Ardapple, owner of gluten-free bakery Apple’s Northside Market in Peoria, IL, says the number one reason why bakeries don’t offer gluten-free is because they don’t have the space to do it. Even with separate gluten-free equipment, it isn’t enough unless there is a separate cooking space as well.

“To be really the best at it, you need a stand alone building,” she said. “To the be the second best, you need a dedicated production area with dedicated equipment, and you can’t make anything else in that area.”

Even if equipment that was used for wheat baking is sanitized over and over, it is still unsafe to use for gluten-free products.

“You’ll have some bakeries that say, ‘I sanitized everything down three times.’ Well, it’s still made in a kitchen that has wheat in it, so the chance of cross contamination is very large,” Ardapple says.

Apple’s Northside Market has both traditional baking products and gluten-free, but has an entirely separate, closed off space for gluten free baking. The bakery also has dedicated staff for each of the areas.

Purchasing equipment, hiring a separate bake staff and creating new space factor into the heightened price of gluten-free baking, but what about prices of ingredients? When baking gluten-free, it could take anywhere from two to six different types of flour to replicate the flavor received from one type of wheat flour. So yes, buying more types of flour is pricier than just buying one, but as far as price points go by the whole, ounce or pound, the difference is not astronomical. However, the market for gluten-free ingredients is unique and small, allowing manufacturers to sell them for a higher price point.

“I think more than anything it’s the handling and production for it that needs to be factored in,” Ardrapple said. “Your overhead cost on gluten-free is higher because they have to be unique spaces. In a traditional workspace you can manufacture gazillions of stuff at one time. You have to make specific investments for it to be gluten free.”

Numbers aside, one of the biggest struggles for gluten-free bakers as well as gluten-intolerant people is creating foods that taste good. Gluten-free foods will often be compared to eating sand, or described as tasteless and unsatisfying. When working with several types of flour, a lot of time must be dedicated to finding which combinations create the best flavors. Learning what is a palatable blend of flavors for consumers is very challenging, and many bakers don’t have the time for it. For Ardrapple, it took over a year of experimentation to find one cookie recipe that lived up to the flavor of a traditionally made cookie.

The number of people with Celiac Disease is steadily increasing. It can develop at any time, and the treats that these people once enjoyed don’t need to be lost forever. Ardrapple began baking gluten-free as a response to the needs of her customers, but with a few adjustments bakeries everywhere can provide delicious treats for Celiacs.

“I think that food is the center pose of our best memories and our best conversations. Food is what we gather around, to share the stories of the day, to plan exciting times for the future, and food is fundamental at the development of our social wiring. So I feel that it’s very important that everyone be able to have food that they can enjoy both for their taste buds and from a mental standpoint.”