Food Crush and GIVEAWAY – Chocolate Tortilla Chips

For this week’s Food Crush, I am excited to also be bringing you a giveaway.  I was sent a sampler pack of chips from Food Should Taste Good recently and was absolutely delighted by what I found. I know you might be saying to yourself “but gluten-free corn tortilla chips aren’t that difficult to find.” And I agree, so something had to be extra-special to give them Food Crush status. While all of their chips were delicious, the Multigrain chips and Chocolate Tortilla Chips are absolutely crush-worthy now let me explain.

The idea of “Chocolate Tortilla Chips” was initially rather under-whelming.  Even though I have used chocolate in savory dishes like gluten-free tamales and my healthy turkey chili recipe, I was less than enthused.  However when I finally tried these, my tastebuds were tantalized.  The hint of sweet is really just an undertone to a savory, crispy chip.  I also LOVE that they provide ‘flavor pairings’ for all of their chips.  That inspired me to try the chocolate chips with salsa – which was another wonderful surprise.  Don’t look to these chips to satisfy a hard-core chocolate craving, but they would be a great conversation starter at your next party.

Now the snack that truly has won my heart – the “Multigrain”chip. It’s not a sexy name, but it IS my new favorite snack.  It also has a hint of sweetness, but the combination of grains is wonderful and the flavor hearkens back to a cracker I haven’t had in years – Wheat Thins. Don’t let that comparison scare you away; they have been tested and certified to be gluten-free.  I too was wary at first, as one of the ingredients is ‘oat fiber.’ So I asked the manufacturer about the source of their oats, as well as the type of vinegar used in their other chips. Their response is below.  Suffice it to say, it quelled by concerns and I am excited to see another company reaching out to the gluten-free community with products that are truly gluten-free.

Don’t let my effusive love of the Multigrain and Chocolate Tortilla Chips deter you from trying the other varieties.  The Buffalo flavor has a nice kick, reminiscent of an ‘all-natural’ nacho cheese Dorito (though I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate that comparison –ha!) and the Olive chip truly seems infused with Kalamata olives.  I was expecting ‘The Works’ chip to be too much, but the garlic isn’t too strong and I loved the caraway seeds.  The Sweet Potato chips are nice but I would prefer slightly more sweet potato flavor.  The Jalapeno chips are pretty, but surprisingly bland if you are expecting a spicy kick.

Their response to my gluten-free questioning:
“I appreciate your concern for the oat fiber and I will say that we have had a lot of questions regarding our Multigrain chips, but they most definitely are gluten free. Our chips are certified gluten free by GIG of North America.  I will send you some information regarding the oats if you like.  In the extraction process any gluten is removed from the oats early on in the process of manufacturing so they are safe for Celiacs to eat.  The Buffalo chips are made with white vinegar, which is also gluten-free.  In addition: ‘We test our products regularly for GFCO compliance.  Gliadin is the targeted allergen and the detection limit is identified in parts per million.  This analysis is the most stringent level of detection that can be performed.  Levels of 5ppm Gliadin is equivalent to 10ppm Gluten.  As you are probably aware, there is no test that will measure absolute zero. Our certification assures that the product contains less than 5 ppm of Gliadin and similar proteins from rye and barley by AOAC methods which have been approved by the GFCO.    The FDA is proposing a labeling rule to identify Gluten Free as product containing less than 20 ppm Gluten or 10 ppm Gliadin, we are well with in these proposed rules’”

THE GIVEAWAY
One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to share my favorite product discoveries and keep you from wasting your money on  the ‘cardboard-esque’ gluten-free foodstuffs.  To be eligible for your very own sampler pack of Food Should Taste Good chips, leave a comment with your favorite gluten-free snack below by 11pm Eastern on Saturday, March 14th.  The winner will be selected randomly and announced on Sunday March 15th.