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

Sorry for the delay in reporting responses to my inquiry on oatmeal.  I
received close to 40 responses and now feel able to make some informed
choices.

The overwhelming response ( 15 or so) referred to the possibility of
contamination of the oats either in the growing, collecting,
transporting, or milling processes or on the product lines where the
company (i.e. Quaker) might produce numerous products. Oats in the pure
form would be safe.

There were 3 references to McCann's Irish Oatmeal (cooked in the
microwave or stove top) found in grocery and health food stores.
McCann's equipment is dedicated to oats.

There were also a few references to the oats grown in some European
countries as being in pure form since fields were dedicated to growing
oats

One person suggested buying your own oats :"I am buying rolled oats and
grinding them when I need flour. I have wondered if I could spot the
wheat, so far I haven't been able to, and I assume there ought to be one
or two somewhere.  It is probably possible to buy whole oats, which
could be looked through for wheat just as one looks through beans for
rocks.  Whole wheat and oats are easy to tell apart, and any celiacs
already have some kind of grinder.  But the nice thing about rolled oats
is that they can be ground in a blender or food processor, found in most
kitchens."

"If in doubt, leave it out" was quoted 5 times.

"Give your intestines a chance to heal"  and "wait 2 years" -"and then
reintroduce it" - these comments were sent by 3 people

Chance of lymphoma - 2

"People who are not sensitive often eat it" but  "if one is not
sensitive to traces of gluten, it might be better not to eat oatmeal
because it might in fact have some contamination"  " If you are very
sensitive and do not react, then the oatmeal you are eating is perhaps
ok"

It was also suggested that a person eat it just once in awhile.  (as
with anything, moderation should be the rule)

Two people talked about making their own oatmeal from rice.


I thought that the following was very interesting information: "I found
this passage in a recent issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine (Farrel and Kelly/Vol. 346, No.3--January 17, 2002):

"...Although the long-term safety of of oats in adults or children with
celiac sprue or dermatitis herpetiformis is unknown, consumption of
moderate amounts of oats (50 - 70 g per day) for 6 to 12 months is
non-toxic. However, oat products may be contaminated with small amounts
of wheat. Consequently, oats should be avoided in all patients with
newly diagnosed celiac sprue until remission is achieved through the use
of a gluten-free diet.  Then, up to 2 oz. of oats from a reliable source
can be eaten every day and continued if the patient has no ill
effects...."   (" The key to this is finding a 'reliable source' ")"

There was a study that tested some grains for gluten contamination.
Here are the results:

On the same site(www.celiac.com/oats.html), they also tested some grains
for gluten contamination:

They reported the gluten content of several substances:

Study oatmeal (%, range) average of 4 samples 0.009 (0.003-0.014) Irish
Oatmeal 0.006 % Quaker oatmeal 0.006 % Safeway oatmeal 0.005 % Jane Lee
oatmeal 0.026 % Soy flour 0.001 % Brown rice flour 0.000 % Pancake mix
0.000 % Cornmeal 0.000 % Rice flour 0.000 %

Beside the above web site, the following two were also given as being
quite helpful: http://www.harcourthealth.com/scripts/om.dll/
servearticle=a109003 http://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/topics/

Hope this is helpful to all.

Susan Dee