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Thanks for bearing with my ignorance, as I'm new to all this GF stuff! And
thanks for all your replies. The consensus seems to be that although
theoretically the germ could be GF, since gluten occurs only in the
endosperm, in actuality it probably isn't because of cross-contamination.
Several people reported reactions to wheat germ.

Carma in Phoenix
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THE QUESTION:
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I read recently that wheat germ is gluten-free. Anybody know anything about
this? I believe it was in Jane Kinderlehrer's SMART COOKIES or SMART
MUFFINS. (Kinderlehrer is a past food editor for PREVENTION magazine.)
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THE RESPONSES:
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["Donald D. Kasarda" <[log in to unmask]> wrote in Aug. 1996, advising
celiacs not to use wheat germ]
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Even if it is, what odds do you give that is has not been contaminated.  I
wouldn't let my wife touch anything like that - I don't trust the food
industry to care enough.
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I don't see how it can be if it comes from wheat and from the center
of the wheat.   Man, people on this list are frightened by  vinegar
and alcohol which are distilled-  I can't think that anything coming
directly from wheat can be gluten free.
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I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. I figure, even if it is gluten free
in theory, which I doubt, the chances of cross-contamination are so great that
I wouldn't even consider it.
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Where did you hear that?  That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever
heard.  Unless some miracle of science has occurred, wheat germ is
definitely not GF.
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just to let you know, eating wheat germ in an otherwise gf fruit
smoothie put me in the hospital with dehydration.  talk about a
reaction!!!
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You have been given misinformation. Wheat germ is not gluten
free. Any good encyclopedia will provide you with accurate information on
this point. Then there is the issue of cross contamination....
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About five months before even hearing the word "Celiac" for the first time,
I was feeling so draggy I followed a friend's advice and added wheat germ
to my morning cereal (shredded wheat, probably!).  Within a few days I had
itchy, blistery bumps in many difficult of places - more itchy than
anything I had ever experienced.  For some crazy reason I figured out that
perhaps the wheat germ had brought on the bumps ((DH)), and removed it from
my diet.  Eventually the itching stopped and the bumps diminished, but it
took many, many weeks before the residual red scars were gone.   I wouldn't
even THINK of touching anything distantly related to wheat germ again.
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