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

Yesterday, Leanne Wenzel <[log in to unmask]> said, in reply to prior
posts on grain vinegar:

> I have been reading the vinegar letters and shaking my head.
> I think a great number of people on this list have a very limited
> understanding of chemistry and I find this very frustrating. I
> am a research associate in the Department of Biological
> Sciences at the University of Alberta. I was diagnosed with CD
> two years ago and have just recently joined this list. I thought
> that this list would provide me with valuable information but
> have more often than not found it a source of considerable
> frustration. It seems to me there are a lot of people out there
> starving themselves to death because of a lack of knowledge
> of basic chemistry. The GF diet is limited enough. Wouldn't it
> be nice if someone could teach people with CD what all those
> chemicals on food labels really mean.

The vinegar issue is probably the most controversial topic amongst celiacs in
North America.  Each person is welcome to express their own views, but it is
important on our celiac list that we remain tolerant of others.  The
scientists have made what they feel is a powerful case for grain vinegar
being gluten free.  However, many celiacs have the experience that it gives
them the same symptoms which they associate with having eaten gluten.  This
is not an issue of insufficient food chemistry knowledge, it is a report of
their physical reactions.

Don Kasarda has suggested double-blind testing to determine if the
gluten-symptoms can truly be attributed to grain alcohol.  Personally, this
sounds like a great idea.  He also points out that even if grain vinegar is
totally GF, it is possible that many people have a non-gluten reaction to it.

In the meantime, those on the GF side of this issue should at least
understand that it is the position of most celiac societies in the US that
grain vinegar must be avoided.  As long as this is the case, many people on
this list will not eat it.

Bill Elkus
for the listowners