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© Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergA baker prepares bread rolls for packing, in the bakery at a supermarket in Canvey Island, U.K.
Grain sellers want to have their gluten-free cake and eat it, too.

As the stretchy protein found in wheat and other grains has become the latest dietary bogeyman, sales at companies like General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co. and Britain's Warburtons Ltd. have come under pressure. Yet instead of fighting back against what many dietitians contend lacks scientific grounding, they're boosting output of pricier gluten-free foods while leaving industry groups to defend their traditional products.

Less than 1 percent of Americans have the disorder that requires a gluten-free diet, yet almost one in three now eschews gluten, according to trend watchers NPD Group, influenced by bestselling anti-gluten books and celebrity endorsements. The U.S. market for gluten-free foods will climb from $4.2 billion in 2012 to $6.6 billion by 2017, according to researcher Packaged Facts, as bread bakers, craft-beer makers and eateries from Hooters to Michelin-starred Hakkasan embrace the trend.

"Consumers, rightly or wrongly, have made a connection between gluten-free and healthy," said Nicholas Fereday, an analyst at Rabobank. "Grain companies are hoping this trend crashes and burns sooner rather than later. But any trend is a marketing opportunity."


Comment: There is no lack of scientific background when it comes to the dangers of gluten-containing foods and its role in our modern's age catastrophic health. There is however Big Agra's psychopathic greed when it comes to make a profit out of your suffering. Sott.net has published hundreds of articles on this topic. Since the introduction of agriculture, humanity's health has only deteriorated. We are now witnessing an unprecedented state of affairs and it is not only our health; it is practically our entire civilization as we now know it. We haven't known any other way of living for the longest time and look what it has brought to us: deteriorated health, wars, famine, slavery, and never-ending suffering. See Origins of Agriculture - Did Civilization Arise to Deliver a Fix?

The gluten-free industry is thriving by promoting foods that are worse than table sugar. We shouldn't be surprised. When it comes to Food Industry, everything is permitted and you don't matter to them. See Food Politics and Power: The Men Who Made Us Fat.


Terrorist Grain

General Mills, the Minneapolis-based maker of Cheerios, has transformed most of its Chex cereal brand into a gluten-free offering by replacing barley malt syrup with molasses. Sales of Chex have jumped by at least 10 percent in each of the past three fiscal years, while the $6 billion breakfast cereal category has remained stagnant. The company makes over 400 gluten-free products, including versions of its Pillsbury cookie dough and Betty Crocker baking mixes.


Comment: And all for our great misfortune. Consumers are buying into the lie that they are getting a healthier product when in actuality, they are only compounding the plague of modern diseases. Every starch, "gluten-free" or not, becomes a sugar as far as the body is concerned, once it's digested. What they are selling amounts to sugar! See 146 reasons why sugar destroys your health.


Wheat flour consumption has fallen to a 22-year low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's at least partly due to the work of gluten-free advocates like William Davis, author of 2011's Wheat Belly, and David Perlmutter, who released Grain Brain this year. Davis calls wheat "the world's most destructive dietary ingredient," while Perlmutter says grains are a "terrorist group" that "are silently destroying your brain."


Comment: And for very good reasons! See The surprising truth about wheat, carbs, and sugar - Your brain's silent killers and Take a Look at the Damage Wheat Bread Can Cause You.


Doug VanDeVelde, a senior vice president at Kellogg's U.S. Morning Foods unit, counters that grains "can play a key role in a balanced, nutritious diet." Kellogg, of Battle Creek, Michigan, unveiled gluten-free Rice Krispies in 2011. PepsiCo Inc.'s Doritos Nacho Cheese Tortilla chips went gluten-free the same year.


Comment: Just who says that grains are essential for a balanced diet? Big Agra of course! The Food Pyramid has guided food choices for at least two generations. Just look where it has led. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has no business in determining and dictating health and dietary advice. The evidence is begging us to return to our original diet - one that is rich in animal fats and low in carbs. This is what people need to be concentrating on if we are ever to recover the health we once had. See It's official - Time to drop hazardous low fat guidelines


"We're responding as we think we should," said General Mills spokeswoman Kirstie Foster. "There's a new diet book every week, and most of them really should go without comment."

General Mills was little changed at $50.46 at the close in New York today, while Kellogg fell less than 1 percent to $62.05.


Comment: That is, they are desperate to see their corporate gains thrive no matter the circumstances. People want gluten-free foods because they are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of gluten. The food industry is only obfuscating the science to offer products that are rich in sugar and thus toxic to our health. In fact, there is not such a thing as a gluten-free grain. See What is gluten intolerance?


Flash trends

Mark Lang, a food marketing professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, says grain producers won't criticize the anti-gluten authors for fear of fueling sales of their books or offending those with celiac disease who really must avoid gluten. Celiac sufferers produce antibodies to attack gluten, causing damage to the intestines and illness, according to the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research.


Comment: They won't criticize the anti-gluten science because it is solid and obvious for everyone to see. People are letting go their sacred cows as they realize that our modern diet has led to nothing but unnecessary suffering. See Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease.


"Large companies have learned not to overreact to these flash trends," Lang said. "There is nothing to gain, and you have everything to lose."


Comment: Of course, they have learned to take advantages of situations like this. The new awareness of the necessity of going gluten free has brought to the market a whole range of products that are equally bad or even worse. See Food Politics and Power: The Men Who Made Us Fat.


Grain companies are making the most of the dietary shift. On Amazon.com, gluten-free Rice Krispies cost 29 cents per ounce, versus 17 cents for the original kind. Warburtons' gluten-free bread is about 5 pounds ($8) per kilogram, more than twice the price of its regular bread.


Comment: Don't buy into Big Agra's BS. They are selling products which still contain gluten and which amounts to sugar. Sugar is the real culprit of modern disease, not saturated fat. See:

Swedish Expert Committee: A Low-Carb Diet most effective for weight loss
Saturated fat heart disease 'myth': UK cardiologist calls for change in public health advice on saturated fat
Everything you've been told about how to eat is wrong

If people don't become aware of how they are being taken advantage of, then we will only fuel Big Agra's profits and psychopathic greed based on lies and more suffering.


Loaf profits

The higher prices reflect the additional costs to produce gluten-free foods, which have "many more" ingredients and are made in smaller batches in separate plants to prevent commingling, a Warburtons spokeswoman said.

"My profit margin is about the same on gluten-free bread, but the dollar profits per loaf are much more," said Mark Blacker, sales and marketing director of Continental Baker in Reading, England.

The reluctance of grain producers to defend gluten surprises Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual."

"The industry has been flat-footed in their response," Pollan said. "They should be reminding people that gluten is protein, generally thought of as a healthy nutrient, compared to fats or carbs."


Comment: Michael Pollan in his abysmal ignorance, is clearly a defender of the same propaganda. He should not be surprised of the reluctance to defend grains. The Food Industry is clearly finding this whole new situation highly convenient. They can sell the same unhealthy products but at a greater cost. They would hate to see people finding out that their products still contain gluten, the opiate of the masses. See Gluten-free common sense: 'Gluten-free' products in stores does NOT mean that they're free of gluten and Wheat is a Drug Like Morphine that is why Opiate Blockers Act as Diet Suppressors and Majority of 'gluten-free' foods found to contain GMOs


'Wheat belly'

This isn't the first time grain makers have been dragged through the mud. Fifteen years ago, diets that limited carbohydrates sent sales of white bread and pasta plummeting. Out of that crisis rose industry associations like the Whole Grains Council, which encourages consumers to eat more brown rice and whole wheat bread and counts General Mills and PepsiCo's Frito-Lay snack unit among its members.


Comment: Yes, The Obesity Epidemic, Courtesy of the Agricultural Industry, and nothing like having Dracula in charge of the Blood Bank!


Cynthia Harriman, the group's executive director, said her initial reaction to "Wheat Belly" was that it was "such nonsense." Once she realized "this was not going away," Harriman used the council's website to point consumers toward gluten-free grains such as rice and corn.

The Wheat Foods Council, an association of producers formed in 1972, faced a more direct threat, says president Judi Adams, and it lacks the funding for an ad campaign like "Got Milk?," which cost over $20 million. The council spent $433,000 for public relations in 2011, according to its U.S. tax return. Adams said she's working with dietitians, who she says are more credible than celebrities backing gluten-free diets.

"We know that consumers are confused," she said. "Some don't have a clue what gluten actually is."


Comment: And they will only perpetuate the confusion. How else will they gain from this new state of awareness? They don't care about you, nor your children nor the suffering. It amounts to crimes against humanity, but just as long as they can make a profit, it is alright with them. See:

Food Industry Continues to Market Junk Food to Children
Food Industry Faulted for Pushing High-Calorie, Low-Nutrient Products
The food industry's self-regulation is a spectacular failure
Food Industry Is Now Calling Junk Food 'Healthy' - Why Could That Be?


Bread smoothies

Amid the confusion, one company has stood up for gluten -- Canada Bread, a baker that Toronto-based parent Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is considering selling. It unveiled a YouTube ad last year where a comedian impersonates a smoothie shop owner, stuffing wads of bread into unsuspecting customers' drinks to remind them of the nutritional benefits of grains.

The ad has been viewed over 860,000 times. "Even our competitors were talking about it," said Richard Lan, president of Canada Bread. "If we put out a social media ad based on scientific facts, how many hits would we get?"

The company also helped found the Healthy Grains Institute, an advocacy group committed to "tackling the inevitable myths" found in books like "Wheat Belly." The HGI's website attributes the rise of gluten-free to "celebrities and those who promote fad diets" and argues gluten-free foods can lead to weight gain.

"We whispered last year," said Canada Bread chief Lan. "We will not continue to whisper."