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Hi  All,

Sorry I took so long to summarize, but I was away . I received many helpful
responses, way too many to list, so thank you. When I was diagnosed two years
ago, my nutritionist specified that I avoid white distilled vinegar, which is
why this came up for me.  Even though some said extensive research has proven
vinegars to be okay (even white distilled), there are some of you out there
that react to it, and avoid it.  A few of the responses:

1.  Any vinegar is OK as long as it is distilled, including white vinegar.
This has been scientifically confirmed.  Other than grain vinegar's, ALL
others are naturally GF unless they have something added.  Some people have
an allergy to vinegar or to the acidity and insist on blaming gluten.  It is
true that they cannot use it, but they blame the wrong reason and confuse
others.  I use ALL vinegar and have no problem as do many other Celiacs.
Both the CeliacDisease Foundation and the GiG consider vinegar acceptable.
Only the CSA group is still confusing people on this issue.  Enjoy vinegar.
If you react, stop using it, but it is because of an allergic reaction, not a
gluten reaction.

2.  There is much about this in the archives.  We now have proof that there
is
no gluten in distilled vinegar regardless of the source.  It's all OK for us,
except malt vinegar.  That opens up a whole world of new foods for you.

3.  The only white distilled gf vinegar I know of is Heinz.  Heinz is gf, but
not all brands are.

4.  About 2 years ago some researchers "proved" that all distilled vinegar is
safe for celiacs since the process of distillation (raising the temperature
until the liquids turn to steam, the steam is then "siphoned off" and
condensed to become vinegar) does not allow the larger and heavier gluten
molecule to pass through the distillation process.  That's about as good as
I, an accountant, can explain it.  There is a lot of info available on line,
but that's the bottom line.  Unless you personally have a sensitivity to
vinegar, like many celiacs have different sensitivities to foods other than
gluten, it is perfectly safe to eat on a GF diet.  (exception is Malt Vinegar
for obvious reasons).

Again, there was much more than this but it seems that the vinegar issue is
well covered on the web and many celiacs seem to have a handle on it from
what I can tell.  In summary, it does seem that most groups are moving toward
the agreement that the distilling process eliminates any potential gluten
problems, but that some people react to vinegar, perhaps for different
reasons.  Maybe that has to do with the different level of sensitivities out
there.

I decided to try it out:  I had white distilled vinegar last night for the
first time in two years, and so far I'm okay.

Thanks again for your help w/this.

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