Ogran in Body Basics
Parents who are looking for variety and alternatives for their children’s GFCFSFEF diets in Malaysia now have many choices.
We are all familiar with the following brands- Orgran, Bob’s Red Mill and Freedom Foods. There’s a choice of GFCF bread, cakes, cookies and pancake premixes, pasta, breakfast cereals and packaged cookies.
Casalare Pizza Base
Orgran’s No Egg is the only egg replacer brand I have found in Malaysia. Orgran Gluten Substitute may be an alternative for certain recipes that require Xantham Gum, an ingredient that isn’t commonly found in Malaysia.
Casalare Pancake Mixes
Orgran, Bob’s Red Mill and Freedom Foods are commonly found in Village Grocers (Bangsar Village 1, Mont Kiara etc) Body Basics in BSC Bangsar Shopping Centre, Cold Storage and some Vitacare Pharmacies (LG, The Gardens Mid Valley)
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Hearty Wholegrain Bread is my favourite GFCF bread, tastes just like it came from a Swiss bakery. However my girls prefer Bob’s GF Homemade Wonderful Bread.
Orgran’s bread pre-mixes are the easiest to make, even for people who are not familiar with baking. GF breads tastes better when toasted.
Casalare Bread Mix
Casalare is a new brand in Malaysia. It is a range of GFCF premixes for breads, pancakes, batter and pizza base. I just bought the buckwheat pancake mix, we’ll see how it turns out. I also have a waffle iron, I’ve used GFCF pancake mixes and it makes lovely waffles.
Melinda’s is an Australian brand of Gluten Free premixes with interesting flavours and recipes. Some of these pre-mixes may not be casein-free or soy-free so please check the labels.
Melinda
Some children are able to tolerate small amounts of soy after a few months on a strict soy-free diet. For those who are on Corn-Free diets, Orgran’s uses a lot of corn in their products. I prefer Bob’s GF All-Purpose Baking Flour. However, Orgran’s Gluten-Free Flour contains rice and corn flour, which makes wonderfully crispy pisang goreng, fritters and cokodok.
San Remo also has gluten-free spaghetti, much nicer than Orgran GF pastas. Over time you’ll find which brands you prefer. Take note that most packaged GFCF cookies, GFCF cookies and cakes premixes usually have high sugar content, some include preservatives, artificial flavourings and colorings. Remember, just because it’s GFCF doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
More Melinda's
I found all these brands in Village Grocer, Bangsar Village 1. My shopping is limited to certain areas of KL that I frequent. For parents in other neighbourhoods or cities, if you know of a shop near you with GFCF foodstuffs, please email me directly so I can share it with others.
If you have a Cold Storage, Village Grocer or Vitacare nearby, you can ask the store manager to order these products in for you. If they carry it in their KL stores, they can surely bring it to other cities in Malaysia. Otherwise, call up the main distributors to check if they have a local reseller in your city.
Please learn to read labels, bear in mind your child’s dietary restrictions. I have learnt from experience not to buy packaged foods in bulk, my girls always end up refusing them the moment I buy more than 2 packets of anything! These are imported specialist foods, so they are definitely not cheap.
Weekly Menu
Most parent new to the GFCF diet tend to overbuy pre-mixes and packaged foods, I know because I was one of them. Remember, we don’t need to buy 5 types of pasta, 3 types of breakfast cereal and 4 types of packaged cookies. Especially if your children are not too fussy about food.
And I especially do not recommend buying 10 boxes of GF spaghetti, emptying out the whole shelf! Not only was it expensive, her child refused to eat anymore of that pasta and she was left with 7 boxes of it. You know who you are:-)
However, over time I learnt that doing the GFCF diet for our kids gets easier and there’s less anxiety. I did a weekly menu listing down what to cook and serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. This way, I don’t panic about what to feed my girls and I don’t waste money. I can plan ahead and make fresh foods that can be refrigerated then reheated easily. I can make sure that the majority of my children’s diet is from fresh foods rather than packaged processed foods. This is an old old menu that’s still stuck on my kitchen wall btw. I was reminded when my 2nd daughter was on a tomato free diet in order to reduce the amount of salicylates. And we were rotating between 3 different types of rice then and experimenting with different nut butters. The good old days…..
I still prefer to make my own GFCF cookies and biscuits, so I know how much sugar I can control and there are no added preservatives. However my attempts at making GFCF bread from scratch has been a disaster, so I’ll stick to Bob’s bread mixes for now.
Do take note that packaged and processed foods should be consumed in moderation. These are alternative choices for convenience and variety, it does not replace a healthy gluten-free and casein-free diet. Home-cooked foods made with fresh produce and a whole lotta love is definitely the best.
Spectrum Mum in Malaysia 
Marissa,
Thank you for the article. It was timely that we need to find more GFCF outlets to buy those foods. I wish to ask other than Cold Storage, Village Grocer or Vitacare, do we have something like Brown Rice Paradise in KL? If you know, please share.
Thanks,
Huey
Hi Huey,
I’m glad it’s helpful. I wish there was someplace similar to Brown Rice in KL. I like Country Farm Organics though the range is much limited compared to Brown Rice. Will keep an eye out.
Marissa
Hi Marissa,
I jz discovered your article in the star newspaper on 10/04/2011 and after reading it, I was truly amazed by your dedication, endurance and commitment in treating and caring for your two daughters. My heartiest compliments to you.
Well, I have a 4 1/2 yr old son who is moderately diagnosed with high functioning autism eventhough my husband thinks it is jz a very mild version.
When I read your article, the symptoms and charactors shown by Maya is so very similar with my son. And so, I have decided to put him on strict diet as mentioned in your article.
Currently, he is goin thru this ABA programme where the therapist comes over to the hse five days a week where she does shadowing in the tadika as well.
I am jz too confused on what to do next bec at the moment, so many infos has been given to us to execute and jz don’t know which lead to take. In fact, I am actually goin over to the grocery store later to do some food purchasers for him….for a start!
I will keep in touch with you from time to time as I really need a helping hand on this. Sometimes, Im jz too devatated seeing him unable to express his feelings or his desire to have somethg. Im going to go all out to make him as normal as possible.
At the moment, my target is to enrol him in normal school at the age of 6. Hope its not too late.
By the way, you have wonderful and really helpful website. Keep up the good work. Im really proud of you.
Best Wishes,
shasha
Hi Shasha,
Thank you for your kind words. You might want to read the following articles, this may help you decide your next steps.
https://spectrummum.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/a-journey-of-grace-and-dignity/
https://spectrummum.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/autism-journey-blueprint-by-taca/
Don’t forget to sign up to the KL Biomed Health Forum, many experienced parents in Malaysia who can reply to you and share their experience. There is always hope, and it’s always good to have a target.
Kind regards,
Marissa
Hi . I am glad to find your website. I have a boy with mild autism. He is now attending main stream school . Although he is performing reasonably well academically, he still has some behavioural issues , esp in school.
Recently, I have just started putting him on a GFCF diet , together with enzyme. I hope it will help him to improve more… I really have no other choice because I don t think therapy is not much of a help now.
I use to love baking and have been going to JB just to stock up my flour and other baking material. Now i cannot buy wheat flour and i am looking for gfcf products in JB.
The flour ( Orgran) that i buy from Singapore cost me $6.75. I wonder if it is cheaper in Malaysia.
I look forward to sharing more with you and other mum s with special needs kids.
Regards
wei siang
Hi Wei Siang,
I can’t recall the price, please call Body Basic in Bangsar Shopping Centre to ask for pricing. Don’t forget to join the KL Biomed Health Forum, there are other parents in JB doing biomedical intervention.
Kind regards,
Marissa
Hi Marissa,
I am one of the many parents who are inspired by your journey towards your daughters’ recovery. Your article in The Star came out about a week after my 3 yo son was diagnosed with ASD and I take consolation in learning that he, too, can be cured like your daughters.
We’re just beginning the GFCF diet, so your articles here are very helpful to me. So far, we have only managed to substitute his milk to rice milk. Since he normally takes chocolate milk, I add about a teaspoon of cocoa powder and it taste just as nice as his normal milk. We’re still a long way towards total GFCF diet, but I’m happy that we made this first step. Thank you!
-Sidah-
Hi Sidah,
I’m so sorry to hear of your son’s recent diagnosis. Bravo for taking the first steps towards his recovery. I know it is an extremely stressful time for you and your family. Though we mourn for our child and fear for his future, at least we now know what we are fighting against. There is always hope.
Do sign up to the KL Biomed Health Forum, there are many senior as well as new parents who can provide advice and share their experience.
Good luck on your journey,
Marissa
Marissa
Hi Marissa,
Which brand of cocoa powder is GFCF? Do you know? Thanks.
WP
Hi marissa
I hv recent ly started reading ur blog. I want to introduce gfcf diet for my son. Wat can I use to replace cow or goat milk. I tried rice milk but my son refused to take. Any other thing tat would taste similar n be casein free too.
Thanks.
You may try rice or hazelnut milk.
Try the homemade baked treats (bread, cakes, cupcakes, brownies,etc.) of My Gluten-Free Vegan Haven in Malaysia. All are prepared and baked in a 100% gluten-free vegan environment.
Hi…
I dont know whether I could be any help… but if you can find GFCF products, maybe you can try to get Orgran, Bob’s Red Mill and other brands from US, through this website called iHerb.com …. they’ve been running for nearly 14 years… and best thing is international shipping includes Malaysia… if you keep the weight below 4lbs (abt 1.8kg) and total purchase is between US$40 – US$80, shipping rate is only a flat rate of US$4…. Now, in October it’s Free Shipping 🙂
If you’d like to give iHerb a try, you can use this coupon code “HMN653” for discount….
Enjoy US$10 off purchases more than US$40 or US$5 for purchases below US$40…
I hope I’m able to help parents who are looking for variety and alternatives for their children’s GFCF diets in Malaysia with more choices…iHerb also has a wide variety of organic toiletries and supplements… all brands from the US….
Best wishes….
Thanks. I’ve been using iHerb for a few years, love it! And luckily for us here in South East Asia, GFCF foodstuffs are becoming more and more available.
Hi… may i know if the store provides delivery service for east malaysia?
Illa, you need to contact the store directly.
Hi Marissa,
I have a 5 year old son who was diagnosed with mild autism last year and ever since I have started some speech therapy, occupational therapy and kidsgrow in total 4 hours a week. I’m afraid that this is not enough for him. He is also under Dr Erwin Kay biomedical in singapore. Dr Erwin asked me to contact you for ABA therapist in Penang or Kuala Lumpur. I prefer the therapist to come to the house .
Thank you
Christina
Hi Christina, my apologies for the late reply. I’m not quite sure about ABA in Penang. Do join the KL Biomed group, you can post questions there and meet lots of other families on the same journey, there are other families from Penang too who can help. https://www.facebook.com/groups/169950843212148/
Kind regards, Marissa