Photos of the defendant, Seelig / Gleason, as the injunction stopping him from selling Gluten Free products and ordering his website be taken down. Photo taken by WRAL, property of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

A preliminary injunction was granted in the case of North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Plaintiff v. Paul Evan Seelig a/k/a Andrew Jeffrey “Jeff” Gleason d/b/a Great Specialty Products, defendant.

Excerpts below:

29. The Defendant has committed much of his adult life to defrauding and victimizing people, most recently endangering their health and safety;

30. The Defendant is not engaged in an honest business enterprise, but rather, is engaged in a scheme to defraud particularly vulnerable, sick people;

32. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture brings this lawsuit on behalf of the people of this State who have been or soon may be victimized by the Defendant’s illegal conduct;

33. These people, especially those with Celiac Disease and Gluten intolerance, are particularly vulnerable to injury and harm by reason of the Defendant’s business activities;

Summary of the findings - the Defendant is ordered to accomplish the following within one day;
1. Provide a list of all of his ingredient, product and bread suppliers.
2. Share a customer list (presumably so they can be notified of the issues with the bread products).
3. Provide samples of all of the products to the State.
4. Permit the State to inspect all facilities.
5. Take down his website and all advertising.

Further, the defendant must include, in all capitals and in bold print, “THIS PRODUCT(S) IS NOT GLUTEN FREE.”

Bail was set at $100,000 as the court considered Seelig / Gleason a flight risk.

GlutenFreeRaleigh coverage from the courtroom is here.

NBC 17, Raleigh News coverage here.

WRAL coverage of the story is here.

A copy of the original court filing against Seelig / Gleason and Great Specialty Products is here.