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

Thank you to everyone who answered my question about Three Crabs brand of 
fish sauce with hydrolysed vegetable protein. I got many great thoughtful 
responses!

At least two people wrote to say that they use Squid brand of Thai fish 
sauce and have for years without incident and one of those people noted that 
she is very sensitive.  Several people wrote to say that they know that 
Three Crabs brand is  not safe, some from personal experience and others 
from internet research such as Amazon's webpage which notes wheat as an 
ingredient.

Many people wrote and said that they regularly use Thai Kitchen brand of 
fish sauce.  This is the brand that you can find in the ethnic/ foreign food 
section of most groceries.  So that brand has a convenience factor and, even 
though it comes in little bottles, most of us probably don't use it in large 
quantities.  It states "gluten free" right on the bottle plus their website 
has several tempting GF recipes so the company makes an effort for GF people 
(which appeals to me).

Several people wrote and expressed opinions about hydrolysed vegetable 
protein.  While the consensus seemed to be that it's not safe, other people 
said that if it doesn't say "wheat" on the label it must be ok.  As a 
personal observation, I'd like to note that labels, especially those coming 
from foreign countries, might not always be accurate or comply with our 
laws.  Our friends in other countries probably do their best to comply with 
our laws but we should keep in mind that the language barrier and other 
factors might influence compliance.

I'm copying some of the emails below as many had great information:

Here's there website for Thai Kitchen recipes:
www.thaikitchen.com/glutenfree.html
............

I've never used Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce, and don't plan to try it.  An
interesting webpage discussing fish sauces states the following about the
Three Crabs brand:

"I do not personally recommend Three Crabs Brand, which several Asian
cookbook authors recommend, mainly because it does not appear to be a
naturally fermented fish sauce but is, rather, a flavor-enhanced, processed
food product. According to the label, hydrolyzed wheat protein and fructose
are among the ingredients - both are additives that have not been adequately
time-tested for their potential long-term effects on health. Their inclusion
suggests that the sauce is made through the process of hydrolysis, whereby a
catalyst (sometimes from chemical sources) is added to hasten fermentation,
allowing the company to produce large quantities of the product in shorter
periods of time than would be required in natural fermentation."
[from http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/fishsauce1.html]

I myself really like Squid Brand Fish Sauce.  Its list of ingredients is
anchovy extract, salt, and sugar.  The bottle also says "no MSG, no
preservatives, no color added".  I've become less reactive to gluten over
time, but I used to be extremely reactive; I've used this for many years,
including when I was highly reactive, and have never had a problem with it.
I have not, however, contacted the company to verify GF status.  You might
take a look at their website, too:
http://www.squidbrand.com/

I like the balance of flavors in this sauce, and although it contains 1650
mg sodium per tablespoon, that works out well in the Thai and Vietnamese
dishes in which I use it (i.e., the flavor is strong, so I don't need very
much for the desired results).

If you're in the Sacramento area, you can find this fish sauce at the Wing
Wa Supermarket, 6021 Stockton Boulevard Sacramento, CA 95824 (916) 391-9222.
It can be difficult to find this particular fish sauce, but I definitely go
out of my way for it.  If you are able to find it, I hope it will be to your
tastes, too.
............................
I don't think 3 Crabs is safe. We threw ours out. I use the Squid brand 
(Squid on label, green) cap, which is safe and very tasty (and no HVP). It's 
Thai, not Vietnamese, but works well for both cuisines. I think there are 
also some Filipino fish sauces that are safe as well, as I checked the label 
on a a bottle in a store near me recently and was happy to see it was safe.
.............................
If the HVP had wheat in it it would have to be clearly listed. Barley and 
rye
are not going to be in HVP. HVP is pretty much a safe ingredient.
............................
In Cecelia's Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide "A Taste of Thai-Regular" 
and "Thai Kitchen - less Sodium & regular" are listed as gluten free.  In 
some posts Three Crabs brand was listed as having hydrolyzed wheat protein.
I have not used these brand but this is what I found when I "Googled" it:
Tiparos brand. Tiparos has a street appeal, being the familiar fish sauce 
served throughout Thailand as an everyday pedestrian favorite. Premium 
quality, familiar taste, and the best value price. You can see Tiparos in 
many of our Thai street vendor videos. Ingredients: water, anchovy extract, 
salt, sugar. Product of Thailand.


Squid brand. Squid brand is well-known in Thailand as a "premium", more 
expensive and more delicious fish sauce. Some people like a more "bold" fish 
flavor, the characteristic of this brand. The difference is subtle and might 
not be detected by the average American consumer, but Squid brand has a 
slightly stronger flavor, with a muted fish smell. If you look through our 
Thai recipe section, you will find that every dish requires this most 
important element of Thai food cooking. Ingredients: water, anchovy extract, 
salt, sugar. Product of Thailand.


Three Crabs brand. Three Crabs brand fish sauce has achieved a kind of cult 
status in the American market, being mentioned in various culinary circles 
as "the" premium brand. This is reflected in the market price which is 
relatively high. We agree that the taste is certainly excellent, but whether 
or not the average consumer would notice a difference between 3 Crabs and 
Tiparos is somewhat unlikely. Three Crabs is a product of Thailand and 
processed in Hong Kong. Ingredients: anchovy extract, water, salt, fructose 
& hydrolyzed wheat protein. Typically fish sauce does not have fructose and 
hydrolyzed wheat protein, and we believe those ingredients give the sauce a 
subtle sweet flavor. The fish sauce smell is somewhat muted compared to 
other brands.


Golden Boy brand. Golden Boy brand fish sauce has a good overall flavor and 
very attractive light golden color. The overall quality is good, it's made 
in the best process and is considered a "gourmet" fish sauce. This fish 
sauce is not strong-smelling and it's slightly sweet, a little bitter. 
Whether or not the average consumer would notice a difference between Golden 
Boy and Tiparos is somewhat unlikely but aficionados will appreciate the 
subtle differences (most notably the muted aroma). Ingredients: anchovy 
extract, salt, sugar. Product of Thailand.
..................................
We eat a lot of Vietnamese food.  We loved the 3 crabs brand (yum!) but with 
the AVP label, I did a little checking, and if you look on Amazon's grocery 
department for 3 Crabs, wheat is listed as an ingredient.  I did place a 
call to the distributor for 3 Crabs in San Francisco, and they were pretty 
certain that it had wheat in it.

I then contacted Andrea Nguyen, who writes a blog called "Viet World 
Kitchen," and who has written a number of cookbooks.  I wanted to know what 
was the likelihood of wheat being in the fish sauces used by the local 
Vietnamese restaurants we frequent; she felt like it was a small-ish risk, 
but as always, to check with the kitchen…..

.....................................

Besides it being something I stay away from as much as I can :), the 
Canadian Celiac Association Food Ingredients Dictionary list HVP as an item 
that you have to check – as in it is not by default gluten free or not as 
defined in the book – further research is needed.  HVP can be made from a 
variety of sources including wheat.  It says you need to contact the 
manufacturer to determine its source of the HVP.  The CCA’s Product 
Dictionary is created by dietitians and his highly vetted for correct 
information and it is revised each 18 months or so.  There is no guide for 
“North America” for HVP as sauces like you indicated are imported and there 
is a risk that their HVP is from a wheat source.  The better labelling soon 
to be introduced in the USA for items that are imported will fix that I 
would hope!  Just like foreign food imported into Canada (including the USA) 
has to have ingredients written in French on it and like in the USA, 
ingredient listings will be changing too in Canada and our ppm for gluten 
free is dropping to 5 ppm it looks like, hopefully for both countries HVP 
will list its source behind its name if it is wheat based and other than 
that we can assume it is corn or tapioca based.

Good question as it is one of those “unknown” liquids that everyone has an 
opinion it seems.  I just stay away from HPV – when I was diagnosed 26 years 
ago I was told to stay away from it so by habit I do now.

* Please carefully compose your subject lines in all posts *
Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC