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

Once again I sat on the sidelines and stayed out of this one, but when the
summary arrived this morning, I felt compelled to send a response to the
whole list, just in case a few other people have missed out on this
information, or have been mis-informed.

#1  It is not charcoal that contains wheat flour as a binder - it is
charcoal briquettes.  You can use all the plain charcoal you want.

#2  Hormel's Cure 81 ham has been on the gluten CONTAINING list forever.
It probably has MSG in the flavoring, but that is a guess. Anyway, we have
been told to avoid it.  I'm amazed that someone on the list can eat it with
no reaction.

#3 Most deli meats in the USA contain fillers and nitrites as well as
nitrates. Please note, it is nitrites that cause headaches and gut
reactions. It is NITRITES that one should try to avoid.

#4 Liquid smoke - which is used extensively in smoked foods - especially
the cheaper varieties of smoked foods - is made with a large large quantity
of MSG.  MSG almost always contains gluten and should be avoided.

#5  I am just guessing on this one - but I'd bet that hickory wood in a
fire would not affect anyone's gut, but that the hickory chips have had
liquid smoke or something else added to the chips.  Whatever has been added
would be the source of the problem. As the hickory chips would not be a
food, the people who package and sell them would not be compelled to list
all ingredients, I don't think.  We use our outdoor fireplace for cooking
all summer long, using the same tree logs we use in the fireplace in the
winter.  I never have any reaction.  We happen to have cut down a hickory
(shag bark hickory) tree, and we burn those logs, and cook on those logs,
with no problem to my gut.

Gayle Kennedy