Salisbury, Maryland - 7th December, 2010 – Today Handy International announces the world’s first and only Certified Gluten-Free Crab Cake. The certification, issued by the independent auditing body, Gluten-Free Certification Organization (www.gfco.org), comes on the heels of months of development effort centered on rethinking the crab cake. Handy was able to produce an alternative for gluten-free consumers that can pass a testing protocol far more stringent as the proposed USFDA standard.
In recent years millions of Americans have begun to adopt the gluten-free lifestyle as a growing body of scientific data is revealing the negative effects of gluten consumption to an ever-growing population of American consumers. Carol Haltaman, who heads up Handy’s research and development team, noted, “We’re particularly pleased that we created a cake that not only meets the stringent testing requirements, but is simply one of the best tasting crab cakes we have ever produced. When you consider that nearly one in seven Americans is either gluten-intolerant or gluten-sensitive it was easy to see the need to bring top quality products to this market.”
When asked why Handy went above and beyond the USFDA’s proposed standards Haltaman responded, “We set a new standard in quality and consistency in crab meat and we really wanted to hold ourselves to the same gold standard with our gluten-free crab cake.”
The new gluten-free cakes are already available at a growing network of Costcos, Whole Foods Markets, and other top retailers around the United States, but in an effort to reach the diverse and scattered population of consumers seeking gluten-free products Handy is offering the cakes directly to consumers via their new consumer targeted website: www.glutenfreecrabcake.com. In the words of Carol Haltaman, “The gluten-free community has strong ties to the web and we wanted to give them direct access to the product until a retailer close to them carries the product.”
About Gluten-Free Certification Organization
Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) provides an independent service to supervise gluten-free food production according to a consistent, defined, science-based standard that is confirmed by field inspections, in order to achieve heightened consumer confidence and safety. GFCO seeks to improve the health of those living on a gluten-free diet by providing a system that ensures standards, which are based on sound scientific research. GFCO provides a uniform system, using strict standards to certify a product gluten-free and enables people to easily identify GF foods with confidence. GFCO provides consumers and manufacturers confidence in knowing, that products labeled with the GFCO certification mark meet the strictest standards for gluten-free. These voluntary standards go beyond the requirements of government laws and regulations in order to ensure public confidence. Find more at www.gfco.org.
About Handy International Inc.
Handy International has been a member of the Seafood Community since 1903 and has been a leader in bringing top quality soft crabs, crab cakes, crab specialty items, and pasteurized crab meat to market. Under the leadership of Terrence N. Conway, Handy has pioneered the industry’s most stringent quality standards and received Silliker's gold certificate with an excellent rating of 97% - a level attained by less than 10% of the plants inspected by Silliker.
Comments
As of now all product shipped is not only gluten-free, but also completely dairy free.
If you have any Weis Markets or Bloom stores in the Baltimore area you will find them in those stores. As you are aware they can be ordered directly off our site, but it is always more cost effective to buy locally. Click the “Buy Locally” link above to find a list of stores carrying the gluten free crab cakes. You can also find a pdf document to bring with you to your favorite gluten-free retailer that gives them all the information they need to carry the item were you’d like to be buying it.
do you ship to any stores in the metro baltimore area. I am a celiac support group leader in the Columbia, Md area.
Currently, the Gluten-free Crab Cake does contain milk (as seen on the Nutrition Facts label). We have already altered the recipe, however, to avoid this ingredient in future shipments and the packaging will change accordingly. All product being sold in club stores such as Costco is already of the non-dairy variety, but we’re currently moving the final inventory of product that contains dairy.
Thanks for the great question/comment! You’ll see a posting here as soon as we’re into the non-dairy shipment. If you’re wondering how to tell at the grocery store it’s a simple as reading the ingredient label. If you don’t see evaporated milk, then it’s the newer shipment that is completely dairy free.
Handy International
Wonderful news that will make famous MD crab cakes even better!
Can you tell me if these are also Dairy Free since most people use mayo as a binder?
Thank you so much!