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

After reading a post about Old Bay/McCormick Spices that stated that the chilli
powder and curry were not GF, I decided do some more checking on the spices in
my spice rack, especially the blends.  Perhaps I misread the
post, and the poster was referring to the seasoning packets of chilli
mix, but it had me worried and I decided to check it out further.

The customer service person, Mary, was very nice and told me that there was
misinformation about the chilli powder and assured me that it, and the curry
and many other blends that I had, were indeed gluten free.  That was a big
relief for me, as I had set aside many of the blended spices, such as lemon and
pepper, Chinese five spice, Szechuan pepper blend, Caribbean Jerk
Seasoning mix, cinnamon and several others.  All were GF.

Mary told me that they would not claim there was no cross contamination.
When I questioned her further on the subject, she told us that they do
not use dedicated lines, but after each spice or spice pack is run, the
machines were cleaned and sterilized.  Then she told me that they would
run many hundred or thousands of pounds of spice, so that if some
minuscule particle of gluten were left on the line, it would be conceivable,
but highly unlikely that it would make its way into most of the spices.

I believe that the event would probably be even less likely when one
considers that most of their products are GF, so that after running, say -
cinnamon, then thyme, then pepper, etc. it would further dilute the likely hood
of contamination, before once again running the packets of mixes (these are
things like chilli mix with thickening that you put in to make a Mexican
dinner).  So it would be highly unlikely, (but not impossible) for gluten to
reach the final product.

This thought was comforting to me, and I will again use some of the
blends I mentioned.   She also said that McCormicks has a sheet of
information on 8 major highly allergic  foods.  They are - gluten,
soy, corn, eggs, diary, peanuts, seafood and I cannot remember the
other.  I believe she said if those foods were in a packet it would be
listed.  If you are in doubt, she asked anyone to call their consumer
hotline at 800 632 - 5847.  Most spices are completely pure and if it
states only, ground bay leaves, that would be the only thing in the jar.
She also took my number and is sending me recipes on spicing chilli "the
old fashioned way"

She did say that things may change from time to time, so keep in touch.
I am encouraged to see that many of these changes represent higher
sensitivity to people with food intolerances and allergies.

Carol in NJ