You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[topfiverecords]

I ain't fn around with solid chocolate at this time of year. I'm destroying cases of Toffifee.

[Superflyer]

It really grinds my gears that I can block phone numbers but they can still leave messages, and they are usually dead air for five seconds. Also I cannot clear the voicemail notification off my screen so I have to go in and delete the damn thing.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Sliver

This is the saddest thing I've ever read.

Ferrero Rocher all day long for chocolate that punches above its price point. Hershey chocolate is awful.

Cadbury AINEC. Does anyone who's jonesing for chocolate think Ferrero Rocher? I mean, I like Nutella as much as the next guy, but it's not really chocolate.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

I ain't fn around with solid chocolate at this time of year. I'm destroying cases of Toffifee.

You had my attention until I read the ingredients. Keep yer fricken' wheat out of chocolate! So much has wheat in it. Pointless filler, and I can't even sample it.

[Wormius]

Ikea’s hazelnut chocolate bars are the best quality to cost ratio out there.

[Swift]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

And regarding Christmas parties (or work events in general). For introverts these can be extremely stressful and I to avoid them when I can. Fortunately between Covid and budget cuts we have not had one since 2014 so I've been able to conveniently avoid the issue. My wife works at a small office (total of three) so they do things on a small scale and usually just the three girls so all good for me there too.

I've actually been fortunate with Christmas parties over my 20+ years or working. With a couple of exceptions I've always worked for a small company or in a small office at a large company so have been largely able to avoid big parties. Also saved from them several times by getting called in to work the night of them.

I'm mixed on work parties. I'm introverted too so usually dread them when my wife wants me to go to hers, but they actually usually end up being a good time, particularly if there's booze to loosen things up. Just went to hers on the weekend at a booked out restaurant - buffet style appies, open bar, a bit of dancing. It was fun.

It actually made me realise how boring my company is. There's no Christmas party organised at all. Only once in the 10+ years I've been there was there anything even remotely close and it was a small event at the Blackfoot Inn when a VP came to town and we had a bit of food and two drinks tickets. It was lame. I work at an insurance company so maybe it's just a boring industry, but then I also know someone who works at another insurance company and they have a boozy brunch every Friday at the office, so it might just be unique to my company. Easily the dullest workplace I've ever worked at when I think about it. I can even count on one hand the amount of after work drinks get togethers there have been in that decade.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You had my attention until I read the ingredients. Keep yer fricken' wheat out of chocolate! So much has wheat in it. Pointless filler, and I can't even sample it.

Where did you read that? The website says on their FAQ that the chocolate is gluten free.

https://www.toffifee.ca/en/footer/fa...0gluten%20free.

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

I ain't fn around with solid chocolate at this time of year. I'm destroying cases of Toffifee.

Speaking of Toffifee, their limited edition white chocolate one is pretty good. I usually don't prefer white chocolate variants of chocolate products, but this one was done quite well. I'd eat it again.

Random chocolate... PC brand Ruby with coconut and raspberry chocolate bar is surprisingly good.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Oh man, liqueur-filled chocolates are so fataing disgusting. Who buys those, anyway?

Those are honestly a war crime. You think you're getting some hazelnut-y filled treat, and NOPE! You get a chocolate covered bitter cherry with some disgusting liqueur filling.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Where did you read that? The website says on their FAQ that the chocolate is gluten free.

https://www.toffifee.ca/en/footer/fa...0gluten%20free.

-snip-

Oh, one of those "it's so low it doesn't count!". No, if it has gluten as an ingredient, it isn't safe for celiacs. That's irrepressible as a manufacturer to do that, and am not even sure they are permitted to call it GF.

Ingredients: Sugars [sugar, glucose syrup (wheat), lactose (milk), cane sugar syrup], Modified palm oil and modified shea oil, Hazelnuts, Skim milk powder, Sorbitol syrup, Cocoa mass, Condensed partly skimmed milk, Condensed whey, Cocoa powder, Cocoa butter, Butter fat, Whey powder, Soy lecithin, Salt, Natural and artificial flavours.
Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy, and Hazelnuts. May contain: Almonds, Peanuts, Other tree nuts.

https://www.toffifee.ca/en/about-toffifee/

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

This is the saddest thing I've ever read.

Ferrero Rocher all day long for chocolate that punches above its price point. Hershey chocolate is awful.

Hershey chocolate blows

But honestly for a chocolate experience so dies Ferreo Rocher. That's not to say it isn't a good confection, but it ain't a chocolate experience.

Lindt can make some good bars.

[Misterpants]

As long as we are talking about holiday treats, nothing GMG like charcuterie boards. Going to a function and seeing a giant one of those laid out means they've blown their food budget on fatty gross lunch meat, weirdo pickles and stinky cheese. Just think of all the actual rad foods they could have loaded up on. Wings, cool dips, mini sliders whatever. Anything is better than overpriced adult lunchables.

[sa226]

As someone with a recently diagnosed toddler with celiac, that website is kinda fishy. They claim to be gluten free and even double down with some sketchy info about parts per million acceptable celiac blah blah blah. Then list wheat on their ingredients.

That seems really irresponsible.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Has celiac disease had a sharp increase in the last few decades, or is it like autism where it just wasn't diagnosed correctly? I don't remember seeing anything about celiacs or gluten free foods when I was a kid in the 90's

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by Sliver

This is the saddest thing I've ever read.

Ferrero Rocher all day long for chocolate that punches above its price point. Hershey chocolate is awful.

Sure...if you like your chocolate with extra protein...

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...icle-1.3480696

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by sa226

As someone with a recently diagnosed toddler with celiac, that website is kinda fishy. They claim to be gluten free and even double down with some sketchy info about parts per million acceptable celiac blah blah blah. Then list wheat on their ingredients.

That seems really irresponsible.

Yup,

Foods labelled with a “gluten-free” claim must not contain any intentionally added glutensources and must be less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten from unavoidable cross
contamination.

https://www.celiac.ca/wp-content/upl...JUN22-0707.pdf

Now, they say it's from glucose derived from wheat, so it might be fine, I don't know the processing on that. But the labeling is dubious and I don't risk stuff like that unless I know more about it.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Has celiac disease had a sharp increase in the last few decades, or is it like autism where it just wasn't diagnosed correctly? I don't remember seeing anything about celiacs or gluten free foods when I was a kid in the 90's

I actually looked into that a while ago as I was curious as well. The answer was basically, it's both.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Has celiac disease had a sharp increase in the last few decades, or is it like autism where it just wasn't diagnosed correctly? I don't remember seeing anything about celiacs or gluten free foods when I was a kid in the 90's

It's both:

“In part, the incidence of celiac disease has risen because of improved awareness of the disease and more accurate and less invasive diagnostic testing, for example blood testing,” said study author Gilaad Kaplan, MD, scientific director of Digestive Health Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services.


But incidence studies are a way of showing that increases are a real phenomenon, according to Liu. “They can provide the validation that it is not just a fad or simply something due to more [celiac disease] testing,” he said.

https://www.beyondceliac.org/researc...is-increasing/

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

As long as we are talking about holiday treats, nothing GMG like charcuterie boards. Going to a function and seeing a giant one of those laid out means they've blown their food budget on fatty gross lunch meat, weirdo pickles and stinky cheese. Just think of all the actual rad foods they could have loaded up on. Wings, cool dips, mini sliders whatever. Anything is better than overpriced adult lunchables.

I definitely disagree on the charcuterie board as I think they are great but obviously if someone buys an inexpensive spread it can be disappointing. I love wings but that is one item that really should not be laid out as an hors d'oeuvre especially if it is a sauced variety.

[Misterpants]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I definitely disagree on the charcuterie board as I think they are great but obviously if someone buys an inexpensive spread it can be disappointing. I love wings but that is one item that really should not be laid out as an hors d'oeuvre especially if it is a sauced variety.

Expensive charcuterie is even worse. The meats are gamier and the cheese smellier.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Oh, one of those "it's so low it doesn't count!". No, if it has gluten as an ingredient, it isn't safe for celiacs. That's irrepressible as a manufacturer to do that, and am not even sure they are permitted to call it GF.


https://www.toffifee.ca/en/about-toffifee/

This begets the question of what does Gluten free mean. In Canada it usually means a Gluten free supply chain so I am surprised that toffefae can get away with calling it gluten free. (Why cheerios are GF in the US and Canada)

Doing a little digging

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-cana...claims.html#a2

Based on the enhanced labelling regulations for allergens and gluten sources, any intentionally added gluten sources, even at low levels (e.g. wheat flour as a component in a seasoning mixture which makes up a small proportion of the final food), must be declared either in the list of ingredients or in a "Contains" statement. In these cases, a gluten-free claim would be considered false and misleading." If, however, a manufacturer using a cereal-derived ingredient includes additional processing steps which are demonstrated to be effective in removing gluten, then the food may be represented as gluten-free.

So because the glucose syrup has been processed into the product that reliably contains less than 20ppm gluten that product can be added to another product and be called gluten free. However because that product has been derived from wheat it has to show up on the labeling. I support the science based approach of ensuring exposure to gluten is less than 10mg per day rather than the though shall not have any product that could have been contaminated ever approach.