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I have been reading with interest the controversy over malt flavoring.
Personally, I find it strange that thousands of people in other countries are
able to eat foods with malt flavoring (and I have to assume that they are
doing so "safely"), while in this country it is considered strictly off
limits.  Could it be that the guidelines used for sensitivity that
individuals have are different in various countries?  In other words, since
there people who are more sensitive to gluten (airborne particles etc)than
others, have the guidelines in this country been set up in such a way so as
to encompass every person regardless of their sensitivity (to be absolutely
safe), although there may be a large group of people who could tolerate it?
Considering how restrictive the Celiac diet can be, if we could find a study
as to the percentage of people who react to malt flavoring, we may find that
it may be better to label it as something to be used with caution, as opposed
to something that is strictly "off limits", thereby increasing the variety of
allowable foods for many people.  Just as we in this country are aware of how
malt flavoring is treated in the UK, I have to assume that those in the UK
are aware of how we look at it here.  If there were a lot of Celiacs in the
UK who were still sick after being on a gluten-free diet, I would think that
they would try to eliminate malt flavoring knowing that it is not considered
safe in this country.  The fact that they have not done so suggests that
perhaps we need to study this topic a bit more in the future.