Gluten free is only an issue if you happen to be gluten intolerant. This is maybe 6 to 7% of the population. If you’re not gluten intolerant, it’s perfectly harmless.
Gluten is the proteins present in wheat and rye breads, it acts as a binder to help the bread hold its shape.
It has only become the latest fad so the food companies have something else they can label as a specialty product and charge more for it.
Irritating to me, like salt free. They don’t have the added expense of adding salt, don’t have to pay someone to add it, but charge more for it.
Organic, same thing. Growers don’t have to add fertilizers or pesticides, which are not cheap, but they can charge more, simply for that organic label. I grow an all organic garden, quite easy. Mulch and cow manure for fertilizer, that’s it. insects take care of themselves, since I never have upset the natural balance of the local ecology by spraying poisons. The predator insects and birds keep harmful insects in check, as will happen naturally if you let it. But if you bought my tomatoes, peppers or cantaloupes, which cost me a lot less to grow, I could charge twice as much for them because of that organic label.
Pure scam.
While I know some people eat gluten free b/c they think it’s cool, some do b/c they say they feel better, some, like my sister and a couple of my cousins HAVE to eat gluten free because they have celiac disease.
My sister was finally diagnosed years ago and there weren’t many, if any, GF products available, now, thankfully, most grocery stores carry a variety of products. Udi has bread type and dessert products she buys from time to time and says that some of Udi’s products are better than other brands available. I’ll let her know.