<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
28 OF THE 31 PEOPLE RESPONDING STRONGLY AGREE that avoiding distilled
vinegar and distilled alcohol is an unnecessary restriction to impose on
people who are trying to keep a gluten free diet. Here are a couple of
snips:
__________________________
"I agree with you completely that some of the celiac organizations have
done a disservice to the community by including these items on the
'forbidden' list."
__________________________
"I think the biggest disservice is that manufacturers must think we are
nuts! They KNOW that distilled products don't contain gluten, yet there
is a faction of celiacs that insist gluten is present. Sure, there are
those that can't tolerate the acid in vinegar, but that has nothing to do
with gluten . . . CSA is so frustrating with their outdated information
dating back many years on vinegar and many other food ingredients on the
no-no list that they insist we avoid because some celiac somewhere
thought they had a reaction to it! CSA needs new leadership."
__________________________
"CDF and GIG are working together on some CD issues and hopefully will
have some common information to distribute soon." [ Note: GIG website is
http://www.gluten.net/ and CDF website is http://www.celiac.org/ ]
__________________________
"Terrific, Amber, and as a former biochemist, I agree with you. We cause
some of our own problems. There will always be people sensitive to
almost any product, but it doesn't mean that there is gluten in it or
that it will affect the majority of celiacs. Our diet is restricted
enough already."
__________________________
"I hope your letter gets some attention. I too am frustrated when my
2-year old celiac daughter has been eating Dannon yogurt for the past
year regularly and just recently enjoying the Danimals drinkable yogurt -
but as of today, Dannon told me that they cannot guarantee any of their
products as gluten free. . .It is getting ridiculous to stay 100%
gluten-free! The representative at Dannon told me it was because of
their natural flavorings. Unfortunately for my daughter, I will no
longer buy Dannon products. Since I am not the celiac, and because she
can't necessarily tell me she had a "gluten reaction" - its off limits
from now on, until the time Dannon tells me otherwise."
__________________________
"I just wanted to say a personal note of thanks for this information. As
a newly diagnosed celiac, I'm having a hard time sorting my way through
confusing information and your post was quite helpful. I've been
avoiding grain vinegar despite my beliefs that it couldn't possibly
contain gluten. I'm grateful you've provided useful links so I could
determine for myself the answer to this question rather than having to
rely on the excessively conservative advice of CSA and other agencies."
__________________________
For those who missed the original post, the following web pages regarding
alcohol/vinegar are available from the listserve:
A short post summarizing information given by J. A. Campbell, Ph.D.
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind9504&L=celiac&P=R4551
A summary that includes a very detailed explanation of the manufacture of
vinegar by Richard Abrams
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind9801D&L=celiac&P=R1689
A post written by a chemical engineering professor who also has celiac
disease
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind9804A&L=celiac&P=R2627
An on-line copy of Ann Whelan's landmark article on vinegar
http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/vinegar.html
__________________________
3 PEOPLE OFFERED DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW:
__________________________
One person wrote to say they thought fractals of gluten do survive the
distillation process, but did not offer any source for the information.
__________________________
"You may be fortunate in not getting reactions to distilled vinegar.
However, there are many of us who do. It is not paranoia that makes us
want more complete labeling, it is our own health."
__________________________
"I respectfully disagree with your post. :-) I for one don't wish to
consume distilled alcohol or vinegar. I feel as if I have a right to
know whether a product contains such ingredients as distilled vinegar or
alcohol. All I want from a company is the information to make an
informed decision. Whether something is "gluten free" or not is a
conclusion and one that I reach only researching and reviewing the
available information. A company's certification of "gluten free" or
"not gluten free" does not in and of itself determine whether I consume a
particular product.
"Also, I am curious how companies 'test' for gluten and the reliability
of such test."
__________________________
Regarding test data, I have two reports to share. These tests did not
look for gluten specifically, but for any proteins in general. Gluten is
only one of many proteins that could be used in the starting material for
distilled alcohol.
1. From Richard Abrams' detailed description of the manufacture of
vinegar:
I spoke to an official of a firm in Iowa that provides U.S.P. grade 95%
ethanol to Heinz and other vinegar producers. I was informed that their
product which undergoes repeated distillations contains no detectable
nitrogen using an assay whose limit of detection is 0.1 parts per
million. ...this limit level corresponds to about 0.7 mg protein per
liter of 95% alcohol. The alcohol undergoes about a 20-fold dilution in
its conversion to vinegar (4 to 5% acetic acid).
2. From Anne Whelan's vinegar article:
Dr. Campbell wanted to determine the effectiveness of the distillation
process in eliminating residual solids. He was as interested in
alcoholic beverages as he was in vinegar ... Dr. Campbell's data
indicated a residue of less than 0.2 mg per liter (1.06 quarts) of
distillate, and he noted that these distillates are never used at full
strength, so the above number would be even smaller.
**In both the above examples, no protein or protein fragment was detected
using very sensitive tests. Furthermore, because of the scientific
improbability of proteins vaporizing during distillation, I see no reason
to assume that any protein or fragment of protein exists below the limits
of these tests to detect. **
Amber Lee
American Fork, Utah
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