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

Because Jane asked me to comment, I will--even though I haven't anything
definitive to offer.

It seems to me that there are two main possibilities:

1. There is no harm from the minute amounts of gluten in wheat starch
prepared specifically for use in food products for celiac patients or in
malt extracts used for flavoring and US celiac patients are following an
excessively strict set of dietary regulations.

2. There is harm from these minute amounts, but this harm is not obvious and
sufficiently low so as to be unrecognized by both patients and physicians in
the UK and Europe. The harm might be recognized if hundreds (thousands would
be better) of patients were carefully followed throughout their lives and
the data analyzed by suitable statistical analysis.

I don't think there is any scientific evidence right now that would allow us
to distinguish between these two possibilities.  My own guess is that the
first possibility is correct. I do not accept the anecdotal opinions of
patients as scientific proof without some objective measurements having been
made to back them up (for example, biopsies taken to look for
intraepithelial lymphocyte infiltration--as has been done in the study of
oats by the Dublin group).

Don Kasarda
Albany, California

>I quote from The Food List published by The Coeliac Society in the UK.
>"Almost all brands of gluten-free breakfast cereals contain malt extract or
>malt extract flavourings which are considered to be safe for Coeliacs."
>Our experience has been that in the USA we never, ever ate malt, malt
>flavouring, or malt extract.  In the UK we do and there has been absolutely
>no consequence.  We also eat allowable wheat starch here with no problem at
>all.