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

This was posted on the list on Feb 9 (2001-93) as part of a summary on
Chinese food:

>>Chinese food is unreliable because the younger generation sometimes
>>uses flour in their sauces, sometimes, even in the light sauces but
>>most of all because, by law, all white rice, east of the Mississippi,
>>must be enriched, and it is enriched by spraying with a grain,
>>sometimes using barley.

* * * * * * * * * *

Because I have problems with rice, I wondered if it was related to
gluten intolerance. It doesn't seem to be. These are replies I received
re: my question on jasmine rice:

Jasmione rice SHOULD be a variety of rice...however, fyi, rice is coated
with talc and that's what may be causing your problems. You can buy
organic, unsprayed rice in health food stores.  Regardless of kind of
rice, rinse it until the water runs perfectly clean, then soak in water
for about thirty min before cooking to soften the grain.  An easy way to
cook rice is to cook it the way restaurants do...in a large pot of
boiling water...as if it were pasta.  Cooks in about 10 to 15 min...

*******

It is just a rice variety, there are literally hundreds of varieties of
rice.  It is supposed to be "aromatic", due to some natural flavor it
has.  It is not treated with anything to make it "jasmine".

*******

Real Jasmine rice is naturally aromatic. If this rice disagrees with you
try Basmati rice, which is Indian in origin.

*******

I have found there is corn syrup added to a lot of those rices that are
bought from Chinese and Korean stores. We buy sweet glutinous brown rice
from the Vienamese market. If you can't eat rice, have you tried millet.
We use it just like rice and as bread crumbs and for just about
everything.  Millet is very good.

********

I have corresponded with Mahatma rice about their enrichment process.
Both the white and Jasmine rices are enriched using cornstarch, not
barley.  Jasmine is a variety of rice, not a flavoring.  Whoever wrote
that "all rices are enriched with barley" is wrong.

********

Jasmine refers to the species of rice.  So named because its scent is
jasmine-like.

However, I have heard (and only heard, never confirmed) that aromatic
rices from Asia might be treated with talc.  Again, only a rumour so
far, and NOT confirmed.  You should, though, rinse any basmati or
jasmine rice before cooking it.

*********

Jasmine rice has a natural aroma of its own, but some brands might have
added other ingredients, for all I know, and contamination is always an
issue. If the Thai rice traveled in the same shipping lot with wheat
flour, for example, and they were not in carefully sealed packages,
flour dust could have contaminated the rice. I know that both bulk
flours and bulk grains like rice can be packaged in cloth bags, and I've
seen flour dust settle even beneath poorly sealed paper bags, so this is
a possibility.

Not all enriched rice is treated with barley. Uncle Ben's now guarantees
all their plain rices to be gf, including the enriched, right on the
label. They will not guarantee any of their seasoned rices. "Enriched"
is like "modified starch": you have to ask the manufacturer before you
know if it is gf or not. It could be either.

********

I doubt very much that enriched rice has barley sprayed on it.  Enriched
rich has added nutrients (all gf) - no barley.  If there is barley on the
rice, it would have to be listed in the ingredients.

Jasmine rice is a type of rice, like long grain, basmatti, and many,
many other types.  All just plain gluten free rice.