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

Somewhere I stumbled on Be Natural Energy Bars, and seeing them advertised
as gluten-free I paid attention and checked out the ingredients. The site
selling them in North American is at:

  http://www.benaturalbars.com/

One ingredient is brown rice syrup. As readers that have been on this list
for a while know, this ingredient can include barley enzymes to break down
the rice starch to a syrup, and sometimes other GF catalysts are used. So I
wrote to the company that distributes them. We had some correspondence, and
she wrote off to Australia, where they are made, to find out more. Well
time has passed and word is back from Australia. It is not GF by US and
Canada standards. In her e-mail to me she is asking questions. Since I
believe in zero gluten, I don't pay attention to just what levels rice
syrup has when barley is used, or what levels are considered okay in the
countries that allow small amounts of gluten. So I am at a loss in
answering her questions. So I am asking for help. Here is her e-mail to me:

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 11:03:36 -0700
From: Sara Lockhart <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: brown rice syrup

Mr. Wiss,

Thank you again for your question regarding the gluten content of Be
Natural Bars.  Although we had repeatedly been assured that there was no
gluten present in our product, we forwarded your question to the
manufacturer with a request for substantiated information.

Their manufacturer/supplier of the brown rice syrup has now advised that
"The product (rice extract) can be classed as 'low gluten', i.e. gluten
content <0.2g/Kg".  (200ppm)

I am now looking for further information on this matter as we are
looking at our options for changing ingredients and possible
re-labelling issues. Could you suggest any web sites or other
information resources which could help us to responsibly handle this
matter?

Your assistance and knowledge is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Sara Lockhart