<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

If anyone is planning on speaking at the FDA meeting on Monday- we should
put our heads together so we're not repeating each other.  Please contact me
or address the list.

I was contacted by Dr. Ellen Anderson from the FDA who cautioned me to stick
to the specific topics in the Federal Register notice- all that is being
considered at this time is the labelling of 8 allergens (peanuts, soybeans,
milk, eggs, fish, crustacea, tree nuts, and wheat).  Barley and rye, hence
gluten per se, are not being considered at this time.  Dr. Anderson
mentioned that a meeting specifically dealing with celiac disease issues may
be something for the near future.  For now, it's a start, and we're
fortunate that wheat was included on the list.

I've put some thoughts down on the topics I can think of that need to be
addressed as shown below (the sections are those used in the Federal
Register announcement).  Please let me know if I'm off the mark or have
missed something. Note that we have 3 minutes for our address!

It looks like the message may be too long to send, so I'll break it in
parts- to follow.

A) Source or Plain English Labelling In this country, wheat flour is
labelled as such.   This is not the big problem.  More insidious is the
labelling of such products as "hydrolyzed vegetable protein,"
"hydrolyzed plant protein," "vegetable gum" and "modified food starch."
Not knowing the exact source of the protein or starch, whether it is
derived from wheat or soy or corn, we must avoid it or take a chance.
Some manufacturers are voluntarily giving more precise information: if
the designation is "modified corn starch" rather than "modified food
starch" we can use the product, or if it were labelled "modified wheat
starch" we could avoid it for good reason.

        We are also concerned about other products which may be derived from
wheat: E.g. most of the citric acid used in the US is *imported* from other
countries, such as China.  Imported citric acid may be made from corn, sugar
or wheat.  The same is said to true for msg, stabilizers, mono and
diglycerides.  Not knowing the source, we must avoid it, or chose to take a
risk.

        Alcohol and vinegar may have wheat origins.  It's controversial
whether distilled products should have protein contaminants, but many
celiacs claim adverse reactions to them.  Therefore, we would like to
see the source of such products on the label (e.g. distilled vinegar
from wheat).

        We would like mandatory source labelling.

(to be continued in part 2)