A couple of my Twitter friends let me know that on Friday the 13th Jeopardy used Gluten-Free Foods as a category. Has gluten free made the big time finally by landing on America's Favorite Quiz Show? Based on the comments regarding the category I think not.
After doing a little research I learned that it was the last category chosen by the contestants and that the answers to the questions were brand specific. Most of the answers were companies whose product can be bought on any grocery store shelf, such as Yoplait Yogurt, Spam, V-8, and Coke Zero to name some.
The website called J! Archive has a graphic of all of the questions in this category for Friday’s Date of January 13th.
$200 question: There’s an octet of veggies in this alphanumeric brand’s vegetable juice, but no gluten - V-8
$400 question: This classic canned meat from Hormel that debuted in 1937 has no gluten - Spam
$600 question: In the U.S., this soda is gluten free, as its Vanilla Zero version - Coke
$800 question: Don’t despair: gluten-free candies from Nestle include the Butterfinger bar & these chocolate-covered peanuts - Goobers
$1000 question: This yogurt brand, known in France as “The Little Flower” has many gluten-free flavors, including strawberry kiwi - Yoplait Yogurt
It is truly disappointing that the researchers who work for Jeopardy didn't do a little more research into the exponentially expanding gluten-free products market. If they had they would have discovered that some companies don't use safe manufacturing practices, but still label their products gluten free. They also would have found that there are companies who pay for gluten-free certification testing for their products and maybe they could have focused on those companies.
A good friend just pointed out that Jeopardy could have educated people about gluten-free foods by highlighting those food that are naturally gluten free. Meats, vegetables, fruits, and cheeses are all naturally gluten-free and they are readily available at the local grocery store for a fraction of the cost of processed replacement foods.
These questions didn't educate anyone about the gluten-free diet and/or Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity. The questions also didn't define what gluten is and why some people are intolerant/sensitive to it, which is really disappointing.
It would just be nice to see gluten free used appropriately, not as the punch line of an insensitive joke, not touted as a fad diet, or a food trend, not being called a dangerous diet, not reporting that the food is too expensive and doesn't taste good, not blamed as the reason a mother tried to kill her child (House episode), or used as a quiz show category with answers that don't even address what gluten is.
The Savy Celiac just posted her take on the episode and a proposed set of questions and answers. Did you watch Friday's Jeopardy episode? What did you think about the gluten-free food category?
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