9/12/07 These five supermarket groups publish lists of the gluten free food that they provide:

note: this article uses the two-letter abbreviations established by the post office to designate states and territories. Click here if you need to see and/or copy this list.

  Whole Foods Market provides “store specific” gluten free lists. You need to click here and then indicate the store in which you’ll be shopping and the special diet list that concerns you. Click here for a list of Whole Foods locations.         

states served: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI

  Wild Oats divides its gluten free list into more than 20 categories. This gives you a huge variety of items to choose from. Unfortunately, there is no single list that you can easily carry with you. Click here for list of Wild Oats’ locations.   

states served: AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MO, NE, NV, NM, OH, OK, OR, TN, UT, VA, WA, WI

Update 11/6/07. Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats are currently melding into one chain of supermarkets. Because Wild Oats is so much smaller than its rival, it is difficult to say whether this is a merger or a buyout by Whole Foods Market. The whole situation is clouded by the fact that the Federal Trade Commission is contesting this "deal" as an unlawful attempt to establish a monopoly. About all we know for sure is that the internet is useless as a way of getting information about Wild Oats. All attempts to do are redirected to a page labeled Whole Foods and giving almost no useful information. I'll do my best to keep you posted about this confusing situation.

  Trader Joe’s publishes a “no gluten ingredients used” list. Click here for a printer friendly list with addresses, phone numbers, and hours of operation of all its stores.        

states served: AZ, CA, CT, GA, IL, IN, MA, MI, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, WA, WI

 The Wegman’s supermarket chain, which serves the northeast, publishes a list of every item in its stores that is gluten free and a separate list of items that are both gluten free and lactose free.  Click here to learn the locations of Wegman’s stores. I suggest that you browse one or both of these lists, even if you do not have access to a Wegman’s store. You will see these same brands and product names wherever you shop.     

states served: NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA

  The Hannaford supermarket chain publishes both a list and a brochure that are wonderfully “generic” and therefore useful to any shopper. Click here for a list of Hannaford locations.                                                        

states served: NY, VT, NH, ME, MA, RI

Stop and Shop Supermarkets publishes a very complete list of gluten free products available. Any shopper anywhere can profit from browsing through this list of brands and products. Click here for addresses of the stores.

states served: CT, MA, RI, NY, NH,NJ

Remember that nothing in this article relieves us of the responsibility to read every ingredient label every time. Things change overnight!