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Robert Peterson said:

>Rice Dream is also a good milk substitute. It is made in Palo Alto by
>Imagine Foods and carried in many health food stores. If I remember
>correctly it contains water, ground rice, safflower oil and if you
>choose, vanilla or carob. I like the vanilla flavor and buy it by the case.

Robert, you may not have been a subscriber to this conference when Rice Dream
was discussed, but it is NOT gluten free!  They use barley enzymes to treat the
rice.  You can used the search command to find all the prior emails on this
topic (email me if you need help on searching), but basically Imagine Foods
admits to the barley use, claims that most celiacs tolerate it well and that
very little barley is left in the product by the time you get it.

By chance, yesterday I spoke to Dr. Cheryl Mitchell, who is the food scientist
at California Natural Products, the firm which provides the rice protein (and
the barley).  She is developing a barley-free rice protein mixture for several
food companies, including Imagine Foods.  I want to buy their high-protein
mixture for my 7 year old CD son, to use as part of a fruit smoothie.  They are
in the prototype stage right now, and expect it to take another 3-8 months to
finish their work.  Cheryl was very confident that a strictly gluten free rice
drink will soon be available.  She also emphasized her position that there is
very little gluten in the current Rice Dream.  Different celiac groups differ
on their policy towards low-gluten products.  Some in the UK especially allow
measurable amounts of gluten, as long as it is below a particular limit.  Other
groups say no level has been shown to be completely safe, so better avoid it.

Bill Elkus