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Dear Listmates - 

The Chicago Tribune has a big article today on page 4 of section 1, on how to protect kids from unseen allergens. There is a section on gluten in oats. 

It notes the number of parts per million (ppm) found in oats. In the USA, companies can list a product as gluten-free if it has less than 200 parts per million. 

I have read that in Canada, though, a product has to have less that 20 parts per million to call it gluten-free, i.e., 1/10th the amount allowed in a "gluten-free" product in the USA. Canada has a much safer standard, then. 

Here is what the article lists for ppm of gluten found in different brands of oats, including McCann's Irish oatmeal: 

Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats                  920 ppm
Jewel (Albertson's) Old Fashioned Oats           190
McCann's Imported Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal     160
HapyBellies Baby Oatmeal Cereal                   130 
Whole Foods 365 Organic Rolled Oats              79
Country Choice Irish Style Oats                        36

All six brands were tested for gluten by the Tribune. 

The article mentions that wheat and oats are often grown side by side, and that oats often get tainted with wheat if there is even a slight wind, or harvesting, storing, or transporting the oats and wheat together. 

So, by USA standards, McCann's is gluten-free, but by Canadian standards, it is certainly NOT gluten-free. Some of us are more sensitive to gluten than others, too. 

-Vicki in Illinois



      

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