The producer: gluten free gluttony

Fresh Earth's products are the path to paradise for those who don't do wheat, writes Shanthini Naidoo

Matthew Ballenden is the founder of the Fresh Earth Bake House in Reuven, Johannesburg, one of the country's first and biggest gluten-free bakeries. He spent about eight years developing recipes for his pastries, breads and cookies which are free from artificial preservatives, additives, sweeteners and flavourants - and taste good, too. Gluten-free goods can now be found at most retailers.

What is your food philosophy?

A fresh Earth is exactly what I would like to see in the future, so I named my businesses after my biggest dream. My passion lies in creating a new understanding of health and sustainability through a combination of modern world creations and the reintroduction of some forgotten principles.

So what is in gluten-free products, if not wheat?

All our bread, muffins, cakes and cookies had to be developed by numerous experiments to get the texture and taste right. We use rice flour, coconut flour, nuts, sorghum, tapioca, plant cellulose.

Are we all gluten intolerant?

Wheat, and the gluten in it which makes it elastic, is not a villain. Apart from a small percentage of people who suffer from celiac disease and get seriously ill from gluten allergies, we can have it periodically and in small amounts. But today's diet means we have cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner - all gluten-loaded.

What is so bad about it?

Research tells us that gluten in wheat is not easily processed by the body, so it adjusts to accommodate the wheat we are eating. The gluten in wheat is believed to create inflammation in the body, which it then compensates for over years and years to counter this perpetual state of inflammation.

We don't notice our gluten intolerance until we have something like work pressure or stress. Then you start to feel tired, bloated, windy and lethargic, which is the effect of too much gluten on the body.

Why did you decide to manufacture gluten-free products on such a large scale?

I was put under pressure by the consumer. Gluten-free is huge overseas and it is catching on here. More and more people wanted gluten-free products at my restaurant, Fresh Earth Food Store, and I was buying product which, it transpired, was not gluten-free.

It was a long, hard journey to work out the formula to get a product that looks and tastes like bread but isn't bread. Also, my entrepreneurial flair kicked in because there are not many suppliers. We started producing bread and other products from the Fresh Earth restaurant kitchen. Then Dischem asked us to supply them, and Pick n Pay, so we went large scale.

Where does the huge demand come from?

During a port strike in 2012, we couldn't get some of the products we were using to bake with. The phones went off the hook, people from Durban and Cape Town were desperate for bread, because their kids just can't eat anything else. People with celiac and Chrone's disease, Tourette syndrome, autism, all found gluten-free, low-GI and additive-free bread to be beneficial.

Are gluten-free products worth the high cost?

Why would we eat cheap food and pay R4000 for medical aid every month? We need to go back to the days when we were in full control of our health. Just because there is cancer or diabetes in my family does not mean I will get it, if I fix the way that I treat my body. I would rather go hungry than consume things that are not going to add 100% value to my body.

It is too much effort to source good food for most people. It is easier to take what is offered in bulk without asking questions, and so we choose ignorance.

• The Fresh Earth range is available nationwide at stores such as Dischem, Pick n Pay and selected Spar stores. Visit freshearth.co.za.

Favourite gluten-free product? Our low-carb bread.

Favourite restaurant? 44 Stanley Avenue's Salvation Cafe. Everything is freshly prepared and they share our philosophy.

Favourite dish? Omelettes. My six-year-old daughter and I share a pesto, mushroom and goat's milk feta omelette every morning.

Favourite ingredient? Coconut.

Plans for the future? I want to retire and farm nuts.