FAQs

Are all your flours and baking mixes gluten free?

Is the almond meal milled at the Authentic Foods’ facility?

Where is the expiration date on the packages?

Is there an egg substitute I can use?

What bread machine do you recommend to purchase?

Is potato flour the same as potato starch?

Is tapioca flour the same as tapioca starch?

Are all your flours and baking mixes gluten free?
Yes. All of our products are created in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

Is the almond meal milled at the Authentic Foods’ facility?
The almond meal is not milled here. It is only packaged here, but it is not packaged in the same room as our other gluten-free baking mixes and flours.

Where is the expiration date on the packages?
The expiration date is on each package, under the ingredients.

Is there an egg substitute I can use?
Yes, there are a variety of egg substitutes you can use.  The following are recipes for various egg replacers (substitute each recipe for one egg):

1. Mix together 1/4 teaspoon of Authentic Foods Xanthan Gum, 2 teaspoons of Authentic Foods Potato Starch, and 1/2 teaspoon of light olive oil or vegetable oil.

2. Mix together 1 1/2 tablespoons of water, 1 1/2 tablespoons of light olive oil or vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

3. Mix together 1 teaspoon of flax meal and 1/4 cup of water

4. Pulverize 1 teaspoon of whole flax seeds in a coffee grinder or blender.  Combine with 1/3 cup of water and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture has a consistency of egg whites.  Cool mixture before adding to batters or doughs.  This is best used in dark dishes since the brown color of flax may discolor baked goods.

What bread machine do you recommend to purchase?
We recommend the Breadman TR3000 or TR2200 by Salton Inc.  You can find these machines at most Department Stores.  These two machines are great because they have programmable settings for timing the kneading cycle, rising cycle, and baking cycle.  This is important because gluten free breads only need one kneading and one rising cycle.  Other bread machines are programmable also, but only with fixed settings for making white bread, rye bread, etc. They often do not allow for any changes in kneading, mixing, rising and baking.  For more information, click here.

Is potato flour the same as potato starch?
No. Potato flour is different from potato starch.

Is tapioca flour the same as tapioca starch?
Yes.

>Does your brown rice flour contain high arsenic levels too?
Recently there have been reports discussing the arsenic levels in brown rice.  We want to address this issue and let you know that all of the brown rice we mill is grown in California, which has the lowest levels of arsenic.  A study done by Dr. Andrew Meharg, professor of biogeochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, found that arsenic levels in 107 southern US and central US rice samples averaged .30 micrograms/gram of arsenic, while the California rice samples averaged 0.17 micrograms/gram.  The reason rice in the south has higher levels of arsenic than California rice is because rice crops in the south are typically grown on land previously farmed in cotton; historically, cotton crops were often sprayed with arsenic-based pesticides to control boll weevils.

In addition to using rice with very low levels of arsenic, we also do our own testing for bacteria and mold after each production run.  The flour from each production run is tested and must be low enough to meet our high standards; if it is not below a specific value, the flour is rejected.

Your safety is extremely important to us and we take strong measures to keep all the flours and baking mixes we produce safe for consumption. 

We have been and will continue to monitor the situation regarding arsenic levels in California Rice along with the California Rice Council.  If you would like more information regarding this, please refer to the article here: http://www.realnatural.org/2012/02/17/arsenic-in-rice-unrelated-to-organic/