Grainful Purity Protocol Gluten-Free Lentils

Disclaimer: Gluten Free Watchdog provided feedback and encouragement to Grainful on their journey to bring purity protocol lentils to market. We are excited to see their efforts finally come to fruition. Gluten Free Watchdog does not formally endorse products.

We recently purchased two, three-pound bags of Grainful Purity Protocol Whole Red Lentils from Amazon. We sorted one bag looking for errant grain and sent the other bag to Bia Diagnostics for testing. We did not find any foreign material and the lentils did not contain any quantifiable gluten.

We asked the folks at Grainful to tell the community about their journey bringing purity protocol lentils to market. What they wrote is so heartfelt we are posting it in full.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Grainful via their website at https://www.grainful.com/

Grainful’s Journey to Purity Protocol Whole Red Lentils

We launched our company with three commitments – great taste, transparency, and simplicity. We started with frozen meals made from ingredients that you can pronounce rather than ones from a chemistry textbook. Our meals were based on oats and as our business grew, we learned about Purity Protocol gluten-free oats and began using them in our products.  

As we learned more about the Purity Protocol, and its importance to gluten-intolerant people, we wondered why there were no other Purity Protocol products in the market.  Soon, the reason became clear – it’s hard!  Purity Protocol crops exist because they are part of the existing Purity Protocol oat rotation. The challenge lies in handling post-harvest. Without demand that meets critical thresholds, you’re unable to dedicate the necessary equipment and facilities. The classic chicken or the egg dilemma!

We accepted this challenge. We believe that there are enough people who need the peace of mind provided by the Purity Protocol.  If we’re successful, demand will grow; more farmers and companies will then get involved; the path to market will get easier; and, ultimately, the price to consumers will drop. Based on our market research, lentils, although gluten-free, are problematic for gluten-intolerant people because of cross-contamination.  As one person so eloquently put it – all lentils are gluten-free but not all lentils are free from gluten!  

We went to our network of farmers who produce Purity Protocol gluten-free oats and determined who was growing lentils in accordance with the Purity Protocol standards.  The Kroeger family farm in Hanley, SK had a crop of red lentils that fit the bill.  High fives all around – we were psyched because we had what we needed.  

Our joy was short-lived since we couldn’t use the existing manufacturing infrastructure—normally lentils are cleaned, graded, dehulled, split, polished, bulk packaged, transported, stored, and then put in retail packaging. Instead, we put in place a process that met the requirements of the Purity Protocol and provided customers with a great product. Working with the Kroeger family, we got the cleaning done on the farm on dedicated gluten-free equipment.  We forwent the dehulling and splitting steps, in favor of whole lentils, which means you have to cook the product a few minutes more to get the same mouthfeel.  We skipped the polishing step because gluten-free confidence was more important than a shiny appearance.  The Kroeger’s delivered the bulk tote of lentils to our dedicated gluten-free packaging facility.  Our team had to hand sort and inspect the lentils prior to final packaging because there was no automated, dedicated gluten-free inspection equipment. Final packaging was then done with semi-automated dedicated gluten-free equipment.  A labor of love from start to finish!  

We’re proud of bringing Purity Protocol Whole Red Lentils to market.  The where-how-who (where from; how produced; who was involved) is important to many consumers and critical for those who are gluten-intolerant.  Your support is appreciated.  Your support will be the basis for new products in 2022 and beyond.  

We’re not perfect. We do our best each day, listen to our customers, and are transparent every step of the way!

Thank you,
Tony, Jan, and Emily