Girl Scouts have always kept up with the times. In elementary school they gave me my first taste of entrepreneurship when I sold my first batch of their iconic cookies to everyone in the neighborhood and everyone in my dad’s office. Girl Scouts have also kept up with food trends, providing, Rah-Rah Raisins, a cookie made with Greek yogurt and now a gluten-free option.
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Those that have gone gluten-free no longer have to feel left out of the Girl Scout cookie fun. This year the Girl Scouts will offer age old favorites like Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, and Trefoils but they will also be adding Toffee-tastic, a gluten-free cookie complete with toffee bits.
In fact, Toffee-tastic isn’t the first gluten-free cookie the organization has introduced. It also tested Trios, a gluten-free peanut butter and oatmeal cookie. Trio is also free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, and palm oil. Both will only be available in certain regions.
“[W]e brought the very first 100 percent gluten free Girl Scout Cookie to market in a pilot program during the 2013-2014 Cookie Season, and the results were outstanding,” says Girl Scout cookie baker ABC Bakers on the company website. “Participating councils and consumers loved the new cookie, and 90 percent of consumers said they plan to buy gluten free again next season!”
Girl Scout cookies certainly aren’t known as healthy, though they do exclude trans fats. But some of the cookies still include high fructose corn syrup, GMOs, and palm oil. Though they are committed to using sustainably harvested palm oil.
Though it’s obvious that Girl Scouts have a long way to go to produce a healthy cookie, the company contends that their cookies are sold for a short time and considered a special treat. Nonetheless, I’d like to see them remove high fructose corn syrup and GMOs from all cookies in the near future.
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Image: Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar
