<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Miscellaneous Notes:
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Baltimore Celiac Conference: A conference entitled, "Celiac Disease:
The Dark Side of the Gastrointestinal Planet" was held in July in
Baltimore. There were nearly 300 people in attendance, representing
groups from all around the country. The speakers included
gastroenterologists from the USA, Italy, and Finland; a dietitian,
and a consumer safety officer from the FDA. The speakers were all
quite knowledgeable about celiac disease, and their presentations
were uniformly excellent, with a wealth of material on celiac
disease, much of it new. We will draw from this conference in future
editions of this newsletter.
Audio cassette tapes are available for the conference are now
available. Each speaker is recorded on a separate tape. The tapes
are offered as a complete set, for $40 plus $5 shipping and handling
(in the USA). Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the set should
contact Vicky Roach by phone at (410) 328-0812 or by fax at (410)
328-1072. Or you can write to her at Division of Pediatric
Gastroenterology & Nutrition, University of Maryland Hospital, N5W70,
22 South Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201.
Vegetable Broth, when listed as an ingredient in the USA, must
contain two or more of the following: beans, cabbage, carrots,
celery, garlic, onions, parsley, peas, potatoes, green bell pepper,
red bell pepper, spinach, or tomatoes. Therefore, in the USA
vegetable broth is a safe ingredient for celiacs.<1>
Lundberg Family Farms specialize in rice, rice flours, and other rice
products, many of which are gluten-free (but not all; ask before
ordering). In particular, they offer a GF rice syrup; this is
unusual as most rice syrups in the US are processed using barley
enzymes. For more information and a mail-order price list, call
(916) 882-4551 or write to PO Box 369, Richvale, CA 95974-0369.
Hunt-Wesson, Inc. produces many well-known brands, such as Hunt's,
Orville Redenbacher, Swiss Miss, La Choy, Peter Pan, Rosarita, and
Healthy Choice. They have an excellent booklet for people with food
sensitivities. The booklet lists which of the following ingredients
their products contain, under all the different brand names:
gluten lactose vinegar from wheat or corn
corn MSG citric acid from corn
soybean HVP caramel color from corn
To get a copy of this booklet, write to Hunt-Wesson, Inc., PO Box
4800, Fullerton, CA 92634-4800.
La Choy has two GF sauces: Stir Fry Mandarin Soy Sauce and Stir Fry
Spicy Szechuan Sauce. Note: La Choy's regular and lite soy sauces
are not GF; only the Stir Fry Mandarin Soy Sauce is GF.<2>
Reversing Bone Loss: A new drug, alendronate, shows promise for
reversing bone loss in women who suffer from osteoporosis. In a
recent study of 461 women, those receiving 10 milligrams averaged a
6.8% increase in spinal bone density. FDA approval of the drug may
come by year's end. Two other treatments show promise: Clinical
trials in New York state showed over a 10% increase in spinal bone
density in patients treated with a parathyroid hormone over an 18
month period. Also, preliminary studies have found that slow-release
sodium fluoride stimulates bone growth.<3> We await further
developments with interest!.
Are You Out of Baking Powder? Or are you not sure if the commercial
baking powders are GF? You can mix your own using 1 part baking
soda, 2 parts cream of tartar, and 2 parts arrowroot powder. Mix
well. Store in a sealed container, at room temperature.<4>
Would You Like a Cocktail? Here is a list of alcoholic beverages,
and their GF status<5>:
Gluten-free Might Be GF, Might Not Not Gluten-free
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Wines Vodka Beer/Ale
Tequila Rum Whiskey
Aquavit Brandy (Cognac) Gin
Liqueurs-Cordials
We had an incident at a recent potluck picnic that we need to talk
about. Malt-O-Meal sells both Puffed Rice and Crisp Rice cereals.
"Puffed Rice" is gluten-free, and is listed in our shopping guide as
such. However "Crisp Rice" contains malt flavoring, derived from
barley, and is therefore NOT gluten-free. Someone used Malt-O-Meal
Crisp Rice in one of the desserts. My intent here is not to
embarrass the person who made the mistake, but rather to remind
everyone how important it is to read labels carefully. Many
companies make both GF and non-GF products that look very similar.
When using the shopping guide, be sure to get the exact item that is
listed, and not something that looks or sounds "similar" to what is
listed.
His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff:
you shall seek all day ere you find them, and, when you have them,
they are not worth the search.<6> (Just ask a celiac!--ed.)
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