One of the first L.A. Fresh & Easy Markets is in my neighborhood. There’s also an old Trader Joe’s as well. Both stores are similar – not quite full supermarkets, but bigger and more well-stocked than a convenience store. They both carry mostly store-brand products, manufactured mostly to be somewhat upscale gourmet yet affordable.
Trader Joe’s used to publish a Gluten Free guide to products in their store. Unfortunately, they rarely updated it and eventually discontinued it. I suspect their sourcing methods made it impossible to guarantee the food’s gluten-free status.
There isn’t a whole lot I can eat from Fresh & Easy, other than relatively unprocessed foods like produce, cheese, meats, etc. They have a line of pudding that is suspiciously similar to Kozy Shack, and is labelled “Gluten Free”.
A few weeks ago, I noticed a small-ish (two 4-foot shelf sections) dedicated Gluten Free section at Fresh & Easy. It’s mostly other brands, but it’s pretty awesome that they’ve recognized the need. There are other GF items in the store not in this section (the obvious stuff) but there’s a nice selection of pasta, snacks, sweets, and baked goods, all labelled gluten free.
Tonight I noticed the aisle sign lists the Gluten Free section on it as well.
Way to go, Fresh & Easy.
