<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Someone recently posted our group's restaurant card on the list. One of the forbidden grains listed was "millet". Let me be the first to say that I disagree with the card; from what I now know I believe that millet is gluten-free. I believe the information in the restaurant card comes from our group's national organization, CSA/USA; information which is not (in my opinion) correct. I'm not alone in this view. Here is what Don Kasarda, a grain chemist at the USDA, says about millet (and other grains): --==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==-- If we accept corn and rice as safe, then members of the grass family that are more closely related to these species (on the basis of taxonomy) than to wheat are likely to be safe. Such grasses include sorghum, millet, teff, ragi, and Job's tears, which appear to be reasonably closely related to corn... Certain cereal grains, such as various millets, sorghum, teff, ragi, and Job's tears are close enough in their genetic relationship to corn to make it likely that these grains are safe for celiac patients to eat. However, significant scientific studies have not been carried out for these latter grains.[1] --==#==-- --==#==-- in Hitchcock's taxonomy, wheat, rye, and barley are in Tribe 3, oats in Tribe 4, rice in Tribe 9, while Zizanieae is the name of Tribe 10, millets are mostly in Tribe 12, sorghum is in Tribe 13, and maize (corn) in Tribe 14. The tribe number in taxonomy has a limited relationship to evolutionary relationship, but it is moderately safe to say that species with neighboring tribe numbers are more likely to be closely related than those with more distant numbers. Of course, taxonomies are not perfect, but in the absence of detailed molecular analysis of all possible proteins from all possible species, which we are not likely to have in the foreseeable future, they are about the best we have to go on.[2] --==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==-- Mavis Malloy, RDN, spoke at last year's Canadian Celiac Association conference. Millet is one of the "safe" grains: --==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==-- In the 90's the Canadian GF diet includes: meat, fish, poultry vegetable and fruit milk & milk products rice & corn based breads and baked goods no wheat starch products buckwheat, millet, sorghum, quinoa, amaranth, cassava, teff, and flax distilled alcohol, distilled vinegar, malt vinegar, and yeast (including brewer's yeast) no spice and seasoning mixtures no oats no pharmaceuticals containing grain fillers[3] --==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==--==#==-- As long as millet has not been cross-contaminated by wheat or some other gluten grain, it should be safe for celiacs. References: [1] GRAINS reference file. Available on the web at: <http://rdz.acor.org/lists/celiac/grains.html#Taxonomy> [2] GRAINS reference file. Available on the web at: <http://rdz.acor.org/lists/celiac/grains.html#Wild Rice> [3] _The Sprue-nik Press_, July/Aug. 1998. Available on the web at: <http://rdz.acor.org/lists/celiac/sn/spnk9808.html#Nutrition> ------- Jim Lyles -------- ----- [log in to unmask] ------ -- Holly, Michigan, USA --