LEO Unwrapped | Seaton & Jill Smith on Creating Safe Oats and Navigating the Challenges of In-Home Gluten Testers
Description
Seaton and Jill Smith’s celiac journey began in 1990 when their young son was diagnosed with celiac disease. Soon after, they discovered they had celiac disease too. With gluten-free options nearly nonexistent, the family leaned on a local support group for help—but they didn’t stop there.
Their experience inspired GF Harvest, the first certified gluten-free oats made using strict purity protocol standards, setting a new benchmark for safe oats. Along the way, they mastered building a brand from scratch and educating families about what “gluten-free” truly means.
Retirement didn’t last long. Meeting Dr. Leo during their journey led them to create LEO Verification Systems, a portable gluten tester, sparking both excitement and debate in the gluten-free community.
In this episode, we dive into:
- The Smith family’s personal celiac journey
- How their passion pulled them out of retirement
- Lessons from building GF Harvest—and a gluten-free oat brand—from scratch
- Why oats have long been a tricky ingredient in the gluten-free world
- The promises and challenges of the LEO gluten tester and why it's controversial
- Navigating the hope and criticism around at-home gluten-testing technology
From purity oats to portable gluten testers, we dive into the challenges, controversies, and triumphs of the Smiths’ journey.
More about Leo Verified
WEBSITES: leoverified.com
INSTAGRAM:@leo2verified
FACEBOOK: @leoverified
More about the Love Me Gluten Free subscription boxes
WEBSITE: lovemeglutenfree.com
INSTAGRAM: @lovemeglutenfree
TIKTOK: @lovemeglutenfree
FACEBOOK: @lovemeglutenfreebox
More about Jenny Finke
Jenny Finke is the founder of the popular blog, Good For You Gluten Free. Find her at (goodforyouglutenfree.com and subscribe to her FREE newsletter at welcome.goodforyouglutenfree.com.
INSTAGRAM: @goodforyouglutenfree
TIKTOK: @goodforyouglutenfree
FACEBOOK: @goodforyouglutenfree
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