When I saw the Glutano Gluten Free Pasta Animal Shapes I was very excited. How fun that would be for my son to have his pasta in cute little animal shapes. There are not nearly enough gluten free products aimed at kids who are on this special diet, so the ones few and far between we've pretty much tried most of them.

About Glutano Gluten Free Pasta, Animal Shapes
The Glutano Animal Shaped Pasta comes in a small 8.8 oz bag which sells for around $3 in the nature's market section of my grocery or at Whole Foods. This is a corn-based pasta, so it is gluten free (does not contain wheat).

Here is some ingredient information about this product (from the packaging and Glutano website)
Cornstarch, corn flour.
May contain traces of nuts, eggs, soy and milk products.
NO: Dairy, Casein, Lactose, Whey, Peanuts, Tree Nuts (Walnuts, Hazelnuts only), Egg, Soy Protein, Soy Lecithin, Soy Oil, Yeast
NO: Wheat, Gluten, Barley, Oats, Rye


I thought it was kind of strange that they have the line about how it "may contain" all these products and then goes on to list that it doesn't contain them. This is actually due to European law on labeling and since Glutano comes from Germany that is why. If the product is made in the same plant that other products are made in containing that allergen ingredient they have to use the "may contain" clause. Glutano's gluten free products are made on dedicated equipment, and adheres to strict product testing. This, coupled with the fact that the product is imported from Europe makes up for the high price tag per bag.


Our Experience with Glutano Animal Shapes

The first thing I noticed about this product is that the bag is very small. It only has about 2 servings of pasta in it, and if my son is hungry he could eat the whole bag at once. Being that an 8 ounce bag is $3 it is certainly not cheap.

If you can boil water you can make this pasta. However, I caution you that this is a pasta that you need to watch really closely. There is a fine line between the pasta being cooked "just right" to being overcooked/mushy and simply falling apart. My son doesn't mind if it is a little mushy but what good is special shaped pasta if it has fallen apart and split into pieces the size of pastina.

Tastewise, the Glutano Animal Shapes pasta are quite good and the color is just slightly more yellow (due to the corn) than "regular" pasta. The consistency and cooking issues however, make this a product that I will only occasionally pick up. At $3 a bag it can get pricey if you have to throw it out and start over again because you got a phone call or otherwise distracted and the pasta self obliterated.

Other Gluten Free Pasta Reviews
Tinkyada Brown Rice Spaghetti
Ancient Harvest Quinoa Elbows Wheat Free

Recommended: No