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

Sorry it took me so long to summarize on high fructose corn syrup. I
actually got very few answers.

First, when I asked the question about whether anybody knew if HFCS could
have gluten, I misstated what the potser who sparked the question said.
Here is what he actually said:

>I did not say that I think wheat might be used as an enzyme; I said
>that I think that some of the enzymes might be manufactured from gluten
>>containing grains. There is a subtle difference.

There is a difference. Sorry for the error.

Two people said HFCS is GF.
>
>HFCS is GF.  Many people have issues with sucrose which is where this
>ingredient is a problem.  According to my Mayo clinic doctors, to test for
>issues with sucrose, drink a glass of pear juice first thing in the morning
>and monitor your symptoms for two hours.  Any increase in gassiness,
>bloating, abdominal pain, etc., and you've probably found your culprit for
>a lot of symptoms.
>
>
>corn itself has a type of gluten in it and some people react to that....it
>is concentrated in corn syrup.  In cooking, you can just use sugar water
>[called >simple syrup] or honey in place of corn syrup. Corn happens to be
>one >of the 5 most highly allergenic foods in addtition to eggs,
>chocolate, milk, >and soy
>

One person, a microbiologist from (I believe) Denmark, disagreed:
>there are two threats for us celiacs:
>1. the source of the starch, which almost 100% is from corn in the US, but
>not in Europe! THere is a risk. Starch from corn (mais) is so much cheaper
>on the world market, that almost everywhere it is GF - but how could one be
>sure? How, if there is a cheap batch of wheat starch which is just used
>because somebody wanted to get rid of it?
>2. the enzyme - mostly recombinant and made from bacteria: not the origin
>of the gene is important (if it is from barley, it must be recombinant!), but
>the media the bacteria (or fungi) are grown in.
>I personally try to avoid glucose sirup whereever possible.
>

And then the original poster from another forum:

>don't have any conclusive answers on high fructose corn syrup. It is
>manufactured using enzymes that can come from bacteria, fungi, or gluten
>>containing grains. I have seen them all mentioned in documentation of the
>HFCS >process.
>
>I do not know whether or not gluten makes it into these enzymes; I haven't
>seen >any research that says one way or the other. Given what gluten makes
>its way >into, I would assume that gluten is at least a contaminant until
>proven >otherwise.
>
>I have nothing definite to tell you. My assumption is that unknown High
>Fructose Corn Syrup is unsafe, until proven otherwise, due to the
>potential of >enzymes derived from gluten containing grains. However, high
>fructose corn >syrup that's specifically known to be gluten free should be
>fine.


cheers
richard

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