<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Many foods are cultured (the technical term is "fermented"), that is, they
are innoculated with appropriate bacteria which change their character in
desirable ways.
 
Such foods include cheese, tofu, miso, soy sauce, pickled foods, vinegar,
youghut, etc. etc.
 
These foods are innoculated with bacteria which have to be grown on a
nutrient medium which, for various reasons is *not* the food which it is
used to innoculate and may often be wheat or some other substance to which
celiacs may react.    (The culture with which soy sauce is innoculate is
usually grown on wheat - likewise for pickeled vegetables.)
 
Because of the considerable expense of separating the bacteria from the
medium in which they are grown AND the general attitude that this is
unnecessary, since the medium is also food,  some of the bacterial growth
medium goes along with the bacteria into the food innoculated.
 
**This growth medium is ****NOT**** included on labels!     (The attitude
seems to be that it wasn't intended and therefore "doesn't count"   - same
attitude as putting vegetable oil on fruit drying trays to prevent sticking
(and, of course, some of it is inevitably absorbed into the fruit)     The
idea seems to be that if you didn't add it *directly* to the food it
doesn't have to go on the label.
 
Many of even the best intentioned product information people don't seem to
be aware of the importance of the growth medium.
 
Just one more thing to check  (or better yet, grow your own).
 
Jim Barron
Chapel Hill NC
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