EDINA, Minn. -- Byerly's here has added brochures on dietary fiber and gluten intolerance to its Shopping for Your Health offering of free consumer nutrition materials.
The fiber brochure lists various beans, peas, bread, crackers, cereals, fruits, vegetables and grains/rice/pastas and the amount of fiber that a serving contains, while the brochure on gluten, a grain protein that some people find hard to digest, lists some products that are gluten-free.
"Fiber is of interest to more people, so we have those located in special brochure holders at the entrance to our stores. We usually have the gluten brochures in our office so people can stop by and ask us about gluten," Merrilyn Tauscher, home economist at Byerly's Chanhassen, Minn., store told SN.
Tauscher said the brochures have also been announced in the Byerly's Bag newsletter.
"Whenever we do a new addition to our program we send them out to the 300 members of the Twin Cities Dietetic Association, so that all the dietitians know that those are available for their patients through us," she added.
Tauscher said Byerly's opted against placing shelf tags by the items to alert shoppers that they are gluten-free.
"Some people get a bad reaction from gluten, and we have no control over if a product is going to add gluten back into their formula," she said.
Tauscher said the Shopping for Your Health program is available in Byerly's 10 Twin City area stores. She did not know if the brochures will be available in the company's new Chicago locations.
She noted that through its Chanhassen store, Byerly's has also instituted a Byerly's Bagels, Bananas and Broccoli Tour with two local elementary schools to teach third graders about the importance of healthy eating.
