NOVELTY MILLS

• In 1887, my Great Grandfather started the first flourmill in Seattle. It was

built to supply export flour to the orient as well as supply flour to the people of Washington State. Since it only took one or two days work per week to supply Washington State, the Novelty Flour Mill was basically an export mill. Novelty Flour Mills has been converted to Salty’s Restaurant on Alki Beach in West Seattle.

The Road to Ener-G Foods

• After World War I, my Grandfather from Spain and two Great Uncles (from

England) joined the family business and learned the stone buhr milling industry.

• Meanwhile, my father traveled the country and the world working at everything from elevator salesman to a ships' steward until he joined the US Navy in December of 1941, mostly serving on troop ships in the Pacific theater.

Dr. Scribner’s Influence Along the Way • Returning to Seattle after World War II, Father was one of the

founders of Brodie Restaurant and Hotel Supply. Today it is known as Brodie/Dohrmann and can be found thriving on Elliott Avenue in Seattle. He was a student at the University of Washington Medical School when my Grandfather took ill and father left Brodie to help run the family mill , dropping-out of medical school. In medical school he had became acquainted

with a professor named Dr. Scribner who with Dr. Cyrus Rubin pioneered the invention of kidney dialysis machines.

Bulk Cargo Shipping of Flour

• About the same time, a discovery was made that revolutionized the milling industry. It was found that if 4-5 pounds of air pressure were applied to wheat flour, it could be fluidized and pumped through pipes like oil or other liquids. Soon countries like China, Japan and the Philippines were able to buy wheat flour shipped in oil tankers instead of wheat flour in bags. Needless to say, this changed Novelty Flour Mill forever because Novelty Mills only had the capability to produce sacked flour. Novelty Mills lost its export market.

End of Novelty Mill • When my Grandfather died my Great Uncles, Norman and Alan, decided to close

the mill which was failing. Unemployed, father started Sam Wylde Flour Co. to distribute flour and bakery items to local bakeries. The fleet of trucks bearing Father's name ranged all over Western Washington, from the Canadian border to as far south as Southern California. Fisher Mills, Inc, bought Sam Wylde Flour Co. Fisher Mills later sold it to a Dutch company, Puratos. Puratos has changed the name of Sam Wylde Flour Mills to Puratos. Fisher Mills no longer exists, but Puratos is still in business.

Dialysis & Low Protein Diets & Dr. Scribner’s Influence. • Dr. Scribner remembering my father called him and requested a

meeting. At the meeting with Dr. Scribner and his dietitian, Sondra Aker, it was explained that there was an acute shortage of dialysis machines and they desperately needed a low protein bread. The University of Washington had one dialysis machine for thousands of kidney patients. Since the kidneys convert protein to uric acid, if the protein intake were restricted, the kidneys would not have to work so hard, hence would require less frequent dialysis.

The Purchase of the Jolly Joan Company • This meeting led to my father locating and buying a small company

named Jolly Joan located in New York City. He was familiar with New York City because he used to sell elevators there. The company was making a couple mixes for people with allergies. The owner's daughter was named Joan, whom her father said was always jolly.

I Have a Job! • Suddenly, at the age of ten I found myself putting stickers on packages,

cleaning and doing miscellaneous tasks at Jolly Joan. My favorite task was rolling cardboard barrels, filled with ingredients up and down the concrete floor to mix them. Then I would scale the mix on a postage scale into chipboard cartons and glue them shut with a brush and put stickers on the boxes to label them for sale

Low Protein Bread • Customers began complaining about the name, Jolly Joan. Father changed the

name to Ener-G Foods, Inc.

• Father and Ener-G Foods worked on low protein bread for about a year before arriving at an acceptable result. Made with a base of wheat starch it was low in protein, sodium, potassium and phosphorus, therefore acceptable for a low protein diet. It was also discovered that by restricting protein intake, progression of renal failure could be slowed even for patients on the dialysis unit. Low-Protein foods can also be appropriate for several other dietary disorders ¹

A Turn of Events • Then my father developed prostate cancer and I having

completed graduate school moved back to Seattle from Oregon to assist father with both Ener-G Foods and Sam Wylde Flour Co. I did a sales route and office work during the day for Sam Wylde Flour Co. I worked nights doing product development and production for Ener-G Foods.

The End of Wheat Starch Bread • One day when father was gone I was working at Sam Wylde Flour

Company and Ener-G Foods when Elaine Hartsook, R.D. , whom I hadn't previously met, came into the office and complained to me that we were "killing" her patients with our wheat starch bread. It turned-out people with Celiac Disease were purchasing our low-protein wheat starch bread. It contained a very small amount of gluten.

The Seagull Test

• Then, Dr. Cyrus Rubin, inventor of the Rubin Biopsy Tube and professor of

Gastroenterology at the University of Washington contacted father and we had a meeting with him and Elaine Hartsook (now his dietitian, later to become Elaine Hartsook, Ph.D). They wanted us to develop gluten-free bread without any wheat starch. I began working nights on developing gluten-free bread and many other gluten- free products. My first bread was from rice starch which was free of gluten, very low in protein and acceptable to both Celiacs and people on Low-Protein diets. After many years I knew I had made considerable progress when for the first time I threw bread into Puget Sound to feed the Seagulls and the bread floated. Finally the seagulls didn’t have to dive for their meal.

Gluten • Gluten is one of the miracles of nature. It has the property of becoming

elastic when kneaded or mixed. It is this elasticity that traps the gas given off when yeast ferments or baking powders react that makes breads and cakes rise. In every cereal chemist's laboratory, there is a device named a farinograph fitted to a small mixer that measures the resistance of the dough to the mixer. As the dough containing gluten is mixed, this resistance increases until it reaches its' maximum resistance. This 'maximum' is determined by various factors including quality of the gluten and speed of the mixer.

“Gluten-Free” • In the USA, a gluten-free diet used to mean a diet free of wheat, rye and barley. However, until

recently no specific USA legislation defining Gluten-Free existed. It is expected that President Obama will soon sign into law a definition of 20ppm gluten per serving for gluten-free foods. In Canada gluten-free food is already defined as no more than 20ppm per serving, however the rule contains the following statement stating that 20ppm only protects a majority of Celiacs. "Any gluten that is present due to cross-contamination in a food labeled gluten-free should be as low as reasonably achievable and must not surpass 20 ppm of gluten, a level that is considered protective for the majority of people with Celiac disease“,2 and all gluten in "gluten-free foods" is only allowed

because of cross-contamination or as an inability to remove all gluten3. Europe like Canada has adopted the 20ppm for "gluten-free. Europe allows foods with less than 100ppm to be labeled

“very low gluten.“4 Canada and The USA do not. Personally I think the standard should be 0 ppm of gluten. For gluten-free foods and 20ppm for “very low gluten” foods.

Why Eliminate Gluten? • An amazing discovery was made in Holland during World War II. People who had been ill their entire lives

suddenly became well. This intrigued Dr. Willem Dicke, a Dutch pediatrician5, who began researching the chain of events. The studies determined that the one drastic change in their diet was the elimination of wheat, rye, oats and barley, all of which had been seized for use by the German armies. The Dutch population was living on bread made with flour ground from tulip bulbs. Further research indicated that the gluten in these grains slowly destroyed the villi, which line the walls of the small intestine. Once the villi were sufficiently damaged, the patient suffered from malabsorption, unable to obtain any nutrients from the foods that were ingested. It was found that by eliminating gluten from the diet, the villi would regenerate themselves and the patient would begin digesting their foods properly. The disease is called celiac sprue or non-tropical sprue. Once thought to be a hereditary disease afflicting persons of Northern European and Judaic descent, celiac disease is now known to affect many other ethnic groups including Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern peoples. Once estimated to affects one in 2000 in the United States, it is now thought to be much more common. Once celiac sprue disease is confirmed, the only treatment is maintenance of a gluten-free diet for life.6

Sounds simple - right? • The common response is, 'I just won't eat bread.' Easy enough, however,

gluten is found in most of the products we consume everyday. Essentially, everything with wheat, rye, barley, and all their derivatives must be eliminated. So breads, pastas, cakes, pastries, cereal, cookies, donuts, pizza, etc, etc...Difficult at first, adaption is possible but, you must also consider this: many commercially prepared foods available on the grocery shelves contain obvious glutens (wheat, barley, rye, etc.) and then there are foods with 'hidden' glutens. Those hidden glutens can now be up to 20ppm per serving in "gluten-free" foods.

1978 and Beyond • By 1978, Ener-G Foods had successfully developed and marketed one

gluten-free bread and one low protein bread that were acceptable substitutes for the 'real thing'. We also mixed and packaged a number of baking mixes for a variety of diets. Since our gluten-free bread eliminated wheat, rye, oats and barley, persons afflicted with allergies to any of those grains could utilize these breads in their diets. Unwittingly, we had joined the allergy foods market, which would generate considerable interest throughout the eighties, nineties and now into the 21st century.

A Large Market • The 1980's saw burgeoning American interest in health, diet and exercise. The public

and the medical community determined that diet played a significant role in a person's health and well being and that some ailments were in fact allergies to foods. With that in mind, we set about developing various products suitable for allergy-restricted diets. Today we have a wide array of products designed to meet the needs of those individuals who must eliminate certain foods from their diets. Included in those products are several milk substitutes for those allergic to milk protein or milk lactose, many products suitable for the elimination of wheat from the diet and our best seller, an egg substitute suitable for cooking and baking which contains no part of the egg in its composition.

Where can one find these products? • Availability of special diet foods in the mass market have always, traditionally, been

limited. Because we market primarily to individuals on restrictive diets, we are generally categorized as a 'health foods' or 'natural foods'. Thus, majority of our products can be found in independent health food stores and in the natural food aisles of grocery stores. Customers can order direct from Ener-G Foods, either by mail order, phone, or shop online from our website. We have obtained distribution across Canada, Puerto Rice, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Latin America. Additionally, we offer such services as a free library of articles, diet resources, recipes, and support group listings on our website, www.ener-g.com. We support the many dietary support groups located throughout the country as well as meetings with physicians, retailers and others at conventions nationwide to promote our products.

Where Do We Go From Here?

• Ener-G Foods is a family-owned business. After my father retired, I took over as the President of Ener-G Foods. I have been with Ener-G Foods since the late 1970s. I did most of the product development enabling Ener-G Foods to switch from low-gluten, wheat-starch based products to truly gluten-free products. I am involved in all aspects of the Company, from R&D to customer service. My wife Marie has Celiac Disease and contributes expertise through her experience, fluency in several languages, and knowledge in gluten-free baking. Marie having Celiac Sprue herself offers priceless personal insight on product research and development. Marie once owned a Gluten-Free Catering Company in Montreal named "Harmony". As a bonus, we also receive un- inhibited feedback and advice concerning Ener-G products from our two children, Sammuel and Alexander.

• The close knit family relationship also extends to the Ener-G staff. Ener-G Foods is heavily dependent on its employees: Cely Cleto, our General Manager, is invaluable. Cely is proficient, organized, and has top notch accounting skills. Jerry Colburn, our Sales Manager, has over 25 years experience in sales. Jerry brings originality, knowledge, and enthusiasm to our Marketing efforts and is fluent in Spanish. Heather Caille joined our organization recently as an added member of the Sales Team with years of experience under her “belt”. Kathy, has been with Ener-G Foods for many years, she contributes confidence and know-how as our Quality Assurance Manager. Sabina, our Purchasing and Inventory Control Manager, applies her systematic talent and rationalistic intelligence to keep cost down while enabling production to run efficiently. Nermina , unruffled under fire, brings calmness as the Customer Service Manager. Georgina proficiently serves our many Distributors and being fluent in Spanish helps with our Latin American customers. Roger is our Engineer and Plant Manager. Miriam, our Receptionist and CSR to our private Label customers, applies her knowledge with ease.

• We have recently added new staff members - - Yasmine, our Webmaster, has an excellent “eye” for

graphics and design, and has made a vast improvement to our online e-commerce, Maya as our Accountant has a sharp sense to analyze the records. Kathleen as our AR and AP Specialist makes sure accounts are handles with expedient results.

Footnotes •1. Some disease treated with low protein diets. Maple Syrup Urine Disease, Phenylketonuria, Tyrosinemia, Argininemia, Glutaric Acidemia, Homocystinuria, Hypermethionemia, Methyl Malonic Aciduria, Organic Acidemia… •2. Health Canada’s current position on gluten-free claims. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Compliance and Enforcement of Gluten-Free Claims. Accessed June 28, 2013. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/other-requirements/gluten-free- claims/eng/1340194596012/1340194681961 •3. Gowling Lafleur Henderson, LLP., Adrienne Blanchard. New policies on gluten free claims. ACC, Association of Corporate Counsel. Assessed on June 15, 2013. http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e611fdb7-1606-40f9-9268-3fd03c08233d •4. Tricia Thompson, MS, RD. European Union gluten-Free Regulation. Gluten Free Dietitian. http://www.glutenfreedietitian.com/newsletter/european-union-gluten-free- regulation/ •5. Willem Dicke. Brilliant clinical observer and translational investigator. Discoverer of the toxic cause of celiac disease. Collegiate School, New York, New York 10024. Accessed June 15, 2013. Pub Med. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20443939 •6. Cyrus E. Rubin, M.D., Celiac Sprue Lecture Series, University of Washington, Divison of Gastroenterology, U.W. Medicine. Accessed 06/28/13. http://www.uwgi.org/RubinLectures/Default.aspx