Gluten Free Tasting

Generally, for obvious reasons, I avoid samples of food that are offered in the local stores, but when the local Whole Foods had a sample stand of gluten free carrot cake, I was curious. The stand had vegan and gluten free cake samples in little cupcake containers. The cakes started out looking the same - orange/brown body with white icing. The little containers were the same. I asked the lady which was gluten free and she handed me one.Now this is a celiac who has taken the bread bun off a hamburger and lived to tell the tale - hence my lack of concern with all this cross contamination stuff.
By the time we were in the parking lot, it was clear that the sample was not gluten free! Indigestion, gas, and my sunny temper plummeting into plain irritation - the kids noticed at once.
I emailed the store that evening, but used the general contact form - not result, so by Tuesday I went past and asked to speak to the manager. He was not there, but I was given his card. I rewrote the email the following morning and received a response within minutes. For some reason the protocols were not followed and some amendments were going to be introduced such as no two containers should look the same if they contain different materials particularly if this is for allergy sensitive material.

So the moral to the story is - let them know if there is a problem with a store who gives gluten free demonstrations or samples. They need to know that however you set things up, people will mix up the containers and the person serving may not notice. I will not be so keen to try another sample though, and will just go buy the packet if that is what I fancy trying.