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

After inquiring about the gluten free status of the new Rice Bowl products
by Uncle Ben's, this is the response I received:


"Thank you for visiting our website. All Rice Bowl Flavors contain gluten
in the sauces. However, I will notify our Research & Development staff of
your comments for future planning.

I do want to inform you that our Converted Brand Long Grain rice is Gluten
Free as is our Instant and Brown rices.
Again, thank you."

   I would like to suggest anyone interested in gluten free convenience
products being available in grocery stores, go to the web site and ask about
the gluten free status of these items.  You can use the comment link on the
Uncle Ben's web site to respond to the company.  The URL is
http://www.unclebens.com .  Then do as I did after receiving the response.
I wrote back thanking them for the information and encouraged them to make
these items gluten free and label them as such, and also label their current
products as being free of common problem ingredients such as corn, soy,
gluten, wheat, etc.

   Hopefully a large quantity of mail may cause them to change their recipe.
They sound really good!  Statistics say that a letter represents 100 other
people who feel that way but just don't take the time to write, so companies
do put a lot of consideration into suggestions from letter writers.  (Just
like politicians.  :)

   Diane