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Don Kasarda has brought up a very important and sobering point:

DK> manufacturers often buy ingredients from the cheapest sources,
DK> which often change month by month.  One source may have a gluten-
DK> free ingredient,while the next one may not.  Often the ingredient
DK> manufacturers are protective of their information and will not tell
DK> the next-stage manufacturer how they made the product or what
DK> ingredients were involved in the process (for example, was the
DK> source of a particular enzyme a crude, malted barly extract, or
DK> was it bioengineered product from bacteria?). Consequently, even
DK> with good will, a very large manufacturer will often have
DK> difficulty saying if the product is gluten-free or not

Can Don, and/or others, please comment on two points?

(1)  What is the cost, availability and reliability of home gluten testing
kits?  The Gluten Free Pantry offers a kit from Australia, I have never tried
it.  Are there others available?  If the food manufacturer whose brand name
goes on the product cannot honestly tell us whether or not there is gluten in
their products, because they really don't know, then it seems the only other
alternative is for the consumer to test the food --- or everyone cooks their
own food from fresh raw ingredients, which is not practical these days.

(2)  Which types of ingredients are the most (or least) subject to the hidden
vendor problem outlined about?  At least we could know which types of foods
have the most accidental gluten risk.

Thanks,
       Bill Elkus