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

Well, after several replies I must say that the biggest thing I learned was
that this is a touchy subject for a lot of people. I couldn't help but
think that this belonged in the category of "things you never discuss with
people"  Religion, politics, and of course what is or is not gluten free.
Ha-Ha.  A couple of people had concrete numbers to offer which I will list
below but the majority of replies were asking for the same information and
had wondered about the very same issues.  Two or three people suggested the
need for better legislation and I agree, follow,and support those efforts.
Quite a few people were encouraging and stated that they too follow varied
degrees of a more "conservative" gf diet as far as restaurants and non
labeled gf commercial foods.  Some felt the ne
ed to criticize my choice of
diet and go as far as to say that eating only whole foods was jepordizing
the health of my family by depriving the body of nutrients. Of course, that
is rediculous.
Another handful of people were compelled to fight the "distilled vinegar"
fight and some just offered opinions about the chemistry of the
distillation process (thank you).  I wasn't contesting the validity of
whether or not distilled vinegar is indeed gluten free but instead I chose
it as an example of the "questionable" items.  I still can't help but
wonder though,  if distilled vinegar removes all of the gluten then why
is "trippled distilled" touted as a more certain assurance of its gluten
free status?
I really appreciate those of you who took the time to share your
experiences and opinions.  I really value this forum as a place to learn
and exchange information.

Here are some of the answers...

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *