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Dear Listmates,

Don Wiss has just commented that the Tritamyl Bread Mix, now sold through
the Gluten-Free Mall web-site, is not wheat-free because it has wheat
starch in it.

This is just another example of what happens when there isn't world-wide
agreement of the definition of Gluten-Free. I am assuming the Tritamyl
Bread Mix producers are following the European definition. Some folks have
been writing about oats being on the "maybe" list.  When a product labelled
"Gluten-Free" is imported into a country that has a different (stricter)
definition and no one in the government checks the ingredients, then we who
are sensitive to wheat starch or oats suffer (if we don't read the
ingredients list even if it the label shouts: gluten - free). When we order
products via mail-order or now the internet and the product is being sold
as gluten-free there is no government agency to intercede on our behalf (if
they actually did perform such a service, that is.)

We must find a way to lobby for:
a) world-wide agreement of the definition of gluten-free and
b) for all manufacturers to have to label their products by law in a way
that is safe for us and sufferers of any other allergies and intolerances
c) for there to be a penalty invoked on any company that knowingly falsely
labels a product to be free of any allergen thereby causing needless suffering

We also need to find a way to form an umbrella organization made up of
groups supporting all kinds of allergies and food sensitive conditions.
Perhaps that will be the strength we need to be listened to.

We live everywhere in the world - can we do it?

Helen in Vancouver, BC Canada