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I was very disconcerted to see the notice from the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency alerting gluten-sensitive individuals to avoid all flavors of
Pamela's gluten free cookies due to the potential of varying amounts of
gluten contamination. I was happy (although sad for my Canadian celiac
friends) when I read the posting from Pamela's stating that the product
recalls are confined to cookies distributed in Canada.

However, as these cookies are manufactured in San Francisco and all lots of
all flavors are being recalled in Canada (either by direction of the CFIA or
by Pamela's "to assure consumer confidence"), I wanted to check out the
possibility of contamination of product sold in the U.S. I have not yet
received an answer to an e-mail I sent to Pamela's Inc. asking for
confirmation of the safety of product sold in this country. That is
perfectly understandable as I can only imagine the complexities of a total
product recall, and the posting from Pamela seems to address these concerns.
In the interest of assuring my own health, however, I will avoid all
Pamela's "Gluten Free" cookies until the possibility of gluten contamination
in product sold in the United States has been eliminated.

I am concerned that a product that has wonderfully filled a need of wheat
allergic and celiac patients for so many years with the assurances of
"Gluten Free" boldly printed on every package, may not be much safer than
conventional foods identified as "gluten free" by consumer information
representatives answering the telephone, or "gluten free" lists produced by
chain restaurants that don't acknowledge the possibility of cross
contamination in the restaurant kitchen.

Thanks to everyone on this list who make my pursuit of health and a totally
gluten-free diet achievable!