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

I need to get this off my chest.  My daughter has been living in the GF
world since May.  I have read tons of information (mostly conflicting).
 The best thing I have done is attend the Gluten Free Living conference
in Philadelphia this past August.  Many posts here say you must contact
the manufacturer to find out "for sure" if something is GF.
 Unfortunately, this is only a guide.  Nothing is simple in the GF world.

One thing that is extremely important to remember is that when a company
says "we can not guarantee our product to be GF" that DOES NOT mean it
is unsafe to consume!  It simply means that in today's litigious
society, the companies protect themselves from lawsuits.  You MUST ask
"which exact ingredient contains gluten?"

Another thing to remember is that people get sick.  Every ache, pain,
and loose bowel does not mean one ingested gluten.  Oatmeal makes me
have loose stools, and I am not a celiac.  There is sufficient evidence
to show that McCann oatmeal is safe.

I learned at the conference not to worry about vinegar, caramel color,
and all those mysterious ingredients.  I look at ALL the information,
read ingredients, contact manufacturers, and then make a personal
decision about using the product.    I heard the experts at the
conference talk about drinking wine and eating plain vanilla ice cream.
 They ate out at restaurants.  They didn't stress.  They didn't panic.
 If they made a mistake, they moved on.  This disease did not cripple
them emotionally.  It no longer consumed their lives.

My personal journey with my daughter has surely been a roller coaster
ride.  She's had tons of blood work, other auto immune problems and
biopsies.  I've also had stool testing done at Dr. Fine's lab which also
served as a guide in her diagnosis.  I strongly recommend going to a
conference like the one I attended.....especially for those newly
diagnosed.  Beware: there is a lot of "old" information out there!  I'm
happy to report that we are a lot less stressed and her blood tests from
last week were normal.  Hurray!

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*