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

Hi there,

Thanks so much for your replies!  Please see them below.
Robin
Minnesota

*You can make your own buttermilk by simply adding a teaspoon of lemon
juice
to one cup of regular milk. That way you can always have buttermilk on
hand
for baking (i.e. as long as you have milk in the fridge) and you will
know
if it is GF or not. I think I got this tip from one of Bettie Hagman's
cooking books if you want to check.

***************

Some might try to purchase a non-dairy buttermilk which could have
gluten. Annatto can be a problem for some celiac's, but not most.  Soft
cheese can have wheat enzymes added to speed the process somehow too,
but I don't think this is the case with regular buttermilk.  Some Dry
forms of buttermilk may have a gluten binder also to help with free
flowing qualities.  Saco dry buttermilk is Ok for us and great to have
on hand.

********************
Read, read, and read more labels.  It's in the strangest places. I'd
assume it to be okay if the label looks fine.  But always check every
time you buy anything as the ingredient list can change and does and
sometimes one product will have gluten and another one, same vendor,
same everything won't.

Yogurt is notorious for not being enzyme processed milk.  I make my own
a lot from powdered milk and one that is purchased and is GF.  Sometimes
I substitute 1/2 -3/4 yogurt and rest water as a sub. for buttermilk
when I don't have any in the house.

So was Ricotta cheese that I just bought a couple days ago to
make/convert to GF recipe. Looked through a couple brands before finding
one that was actually cheese and not filled with other debris and
starch.

Pop is another one that has starch in it.  So don't assume, just because
it's milk or cheese or something as simple as pop that it's GF.  They do
all kinds of strange things to food.

********************************

Occasionally some buttermilks will have modified food startch listed.
However, most buttermilks are okay.

***********************************
I called Berkeley Farms about GF status and the company warned about
cross
contamination regarding their heavy whipping cream since they have so
many
plants and couldn't be sure.  The spokesperson mentioned the possibility

that their yogurts may contain gluten and if it were processed in the
same
plant, cross contamination may result.  It seems strange sometimes when
some
companies will say their products are GF just because they make every
effort
to clean between production yet others will say that they don't want to
guarantee GF status eventhough they must also clean between production
as
well.  So, who should you trust? I trust myself and luckily I found one
who
could assure me that none of their dairy had gluten so not even
cross-contamination was a possibility.

******************************

Real cultured buttermilk should not be a problem.  Sometime companies
take
short cuts to lower production costs...Added ingredients would be things
like
emulsifiers, stabelizers from un-sourced ingredients.

I've found that you can make mashed potatoes using buttermilk...kind of
like
using sour cream without the fat.

Powdered buttermilk is also available in the baking section.  Made by
Saco &
keeps forever when stored tightly covered in the refrigerator.

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