Susan Carmack wrote:
> Hi Todd,
>
>> The grass of grass-fed ruminants would include the seeds at the top 
>> of the stalks in any case, at least when the grass is mature.  Those 
>> grains, which are a completely natural part of the animal's diet, 
>> would contain gliadin/gluten.
>
> Gluten is just found in wheat, barley, rye (and oats). Grasses are a 
> different family.
> http://www.kintera.org/site/pp.asp?c=ewK0LjP7E&b=83967

Well, botanically, wheat, barley, and rye are all grasses, i.e., members 
of the family Gramineae or Poaceae, from which word we get, eventually, 
the word "grain."  There are lots and lots of wild grasses including 
wild varieties of wheat, barley, and rye.  They all have blades of some 
sort, and seeds contained in panicles.  It's true that the seeds of some 
have a considerable amount of gluten, while others (rice, for example) 
have little or none.  The point is that a grass-eating ruminant is going 
to eat any and all of these grasses, regardless of their gluten 
content.  Gluten-containing grains are a natural part of the ruminant's 
diet, because such grains, among others, grow pretty much anywhere 
grasses grow.

>> So if the premise is that an animal must have a completely 
>> gluten-free diet for its meat to be gluten-free
>
> Grass fed meat does not cause me to get arthritis, carpel tunnel, 
> itchy rashes and Restless Leg Syndrome.
I don't see how you can know that the animals haven't ingested liberal 
amounts of gluten-containing panicles as part of their natural diet.  
Has anyone ever conducted assays of the gluten content of meat?

Todd Moody
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