Food allergies and intolerances are a sad fact of life for many modern consumers, but thanks to companies like premium soup producer Kettle Cuisine, enjoying a tasty gluten-free meal is becoming easier for thousands of Canadians at risk of contacting celiac disease, which attacks the immune systems by damaging the small intestine after consuming gluten-a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and some varieties of oats. Produced and packaged at the soupmaker's production facility just outside of Boston in Chelsea, Mass., the all-natural, hand-prepared frozen soups-offered in the Angus Beef Steak Chili with Beans, Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles, New England Clam Chowder, Three Bean Chili and Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables varieties-were launched in the frozen natural foods sections of major Canadian grocers last month to respond to growing consumer demand for gluten-free foods at Canadian super- markets, according to the company, Estimated to affect about 330,000 Canadians, celiac disease is considered to be one of the most under-diagnosed chronic diseases in the world-its rates more nearly doubling across western countries in the last 25 years-with the only known proven treatment restricted to maintaining a strict gluten-free diet that is often extremely difficult to follow, due to the heavy reliance on wheat and wheat-based products in the food supply chain.
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