Glutino Pretzels
Glutino Pretzel Sticks
Glutino Pretzels are a gluten-free favorite in our house.
When I first saw Glutino Pretzel Twists in the grocery store, not too long after making our home gluten-free, I laughed out loud. I thought, Gluten-free pretzels?! Yeah, right. We hadn’t tried many gluten-free snacks at that point, at least not many edible ones, so I was highly skeptical. I’m not sure how many times I passed them by. I’d often pick up the bag, ponder the idea of a gluten-free pretzel, and hastily put them back on the shelf.
After a while, I grew desperate. We’d eaten our fill of popcorn and rice cakes. Mid-morning, my youngest son would shout, “Hungy! Hungy!” and shake his head at everything I offered. We needed some variety. The next time I passed Glutino Pretzels in the store, I took the plunge, and threw a bag in my grocery cart.
I opened the bag, and, Holy Moly! They look like pretzels! I took a bite, and, Whoa! They taste like pretzels! They are light and crisp with a subtle butter flavor and just the right amount of salt. They are really good!
Pretzels were a missed snack in our house. My oldest son was thrilled; he loves Glutino Pretzels and often takes a bag to preschool for snack. His younger brother nods enthusiastically when I offer “petsils” and shoves a frightening two or three in his mouth at a time. I love to dip them in peanut butter.
That’s the good. Here’s the bad. Because they are made with palm oil, they have a higher fat content than gluten-ful pretzels. This is not an issue for my twiggy boys, but I eat them in moderation. Now for the ugly. Glutino Pretzels are expensive at $6-8 a bag in our grocery stores. I paid $8 for our first bag of pretzels, but now that I know where to find them for $6, I give the $8 bag dirty looks when I pass it by. It’s unfortunate they are so expensive, but the price of a gluten-free diet is almost always high.
Glutino Gluten-Free Pretzels taste just like the real thing. They make the gluten-freelicious Top 10!
I have tried these time bombs. Although the taste was okay, the yeast extract that is actually MSG is not okay since it turns into gluten in your system. Glutino has added more and more yeast extract and carageenan to their foods so that almost all of it contains MSG. If you have celiac disease, you have to avoid this. Unfortunately, this company is on the gluten free bandwagon of deceiving consumers into buying their products under the guise of being gluten-free.
I haven’t tried them because they also make pretzels with sesame seeds… and my daughter is allergic to those, so we can’t get them due to cross contamination. I always thought they looked tasty though.
I am glad that I”ve never tried them, after reading Tanya’s post though!
I know this is an old post, but I came across it via google, and didn’t want to leave the misinformation in Tanya’s comment out there.
First, Yeast extract does NOT contain gluten, not unless the yeast was grown on wheat products. I trust that if a company says their product is gluten-free, it means the yeast extract is gluten-free.
Second, I have no idea if yeast extract contains MSG, but whether it does or not is irrelevant to a gluten-free diet. MSG does NOT turn into gluten in your system. MSG is the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamate. It cannot an does not reassemble into the gluten protein in your system.
MSG *may* be made from wheat gluten, but if MSG is present in yeast extract (again, I have no idea if that’s even true), it’s derived from the yeast, not from wheat, so it would not affect someone who can’t eat gluten. If someone is sensitive to MSG and needs to avoid products with MSG, that is an entirely different issue and unrelated to whether they also need to avoid gluten.