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

Well, I feel obliged to step in and list my own set of "corrections" in
this discussion.  I agree with some of the items that Gayle stepped in
and corrected, but I also disagree with some of them.  Gayle wrote:

> #1  It is not charcoal that contains wheat flour as a binder - it is
> charcoal briquettes.

Just to clarify:  SOME charcoal briquettes may use wheat starch as a
binder; some do not.  I don't have any recent information about specific
brands, but I do know that 3-4 years ago Kingsford charcoal sent us a
letter stating that they did NOT use any gluten-containing ingredients
in their charcoal.  I agree with Gayle that plain charcoal, which is
essentially charred wood, should be fine.

> MSG almost always contains gluten and should be avoided.

On the contrary, in the USA MSG does NOT almost always contains gluten.
Here is a quote from an article by Cynthia Kupper, which appeared in the
May 1997 newsletter from the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America:

  *  MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid (a
     common, naturally-occurring amino acid).  It can be made from
     either the alkaline hydrolysis of waste liquid from sugar beet
     refining, hydrolysis of wheat/corn gluten, or the organic
     synthesis of acrylonitrile.  In the USA MSG is made from corn.
     The challenge is finding from which country the MSG comes.

This was reaffirmed by Mary Kay Sharrett at the 1997 Gluten-Free Gang
Conference in Columbus, Ohio (as summarized in the Jan./Feb. issue of
_The Sprue-nik Press_):

   Q:  Does MSG (monosodium glutamate) contain gluten?

   A:  (Mary Kay Sharrett) MSG does not contain gluten if it is made in
       the USA.

in a post to this list by Susan DeVries on July 28, 1998, we learned
that CSA/USA's handbook includes the following on pg. 37:

   CSA/USA's "Info Sheet:  Ingredient Red Flag For Gluten-Free
   Commerical Products" reports that "Foreign sources of MSG usually
   contain gluten-containing grains and a large majority of U.S. food
   producers may be importing this product.  U.S. source MSG usually
   utilizes a source substance of cane, beets or tapioca starch.  A
   small percentage of producers may be using wheat gluten.  Many
   celiacs report a sensitivity and/or asthmatic reactions to MSG."

I think that last sentence provides the key:  Many celiacs ALSO have a
sensitivity to MSG, and in fact, so do many non-celiacs.  A lot of
people avoid MSG for other reasons; there is even a NO-MSG newsletter
that some subscribers to this list also received.  But I believe it is
incorrect to assume that nearly all MSG contains gluten.

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