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Hi all,

     Wow, it seems that lots of people were as surprised as I was about
tobiko (also called masago or smelt eggs depending where you live) containing
wheat. By the way, the source of the wheat in the tobiko is soy sauce. I had always
assumed that tobiko was just the eggs in their natural "jelly", but it's
not...
Thank you to everyone who emailed me. The other things people cautioned about
when eating sushi are:

soy sauce (most soy sauce is made with wheat)
wasabi (wasabi paste can contain wheat)
eel (usually marintated in soy sauce)
miso soup (miso can sometimes be made using barley or wheat)
crab stick (surimi) fake crab made with wheat
one person said Green tea has wheat in it - I've never heard that before - if
you're a green tea drinker you may want to verify that

In many restaurants they put wasabi on all sushi unless you specifically ask
them  not to. (we always specify no wasabi)

one person cautioned about parasites in raw fish

Here are some comments:

Thanks for the warning. Do you have any problems with the sushi rice? Our
local Japanese restaurant using a seasoned vinegar that contains malt to
make the rice. (I did a google search on sushi rice and every recipe I saw
looked gluten free, containing only rice, sugar and rice vinegar, but I guess
it's always better to be on the safe side and ask. And you can always order
plain rice)

I assume that most people know about avoiding eel in sushi, since it's
usually broiled with soy sauce.


 Some Miso soups have barley in them. Usually the really pale, sweet or
White Miso is just soy or rice. You might want to ask, especially if it
is darker and saltier. Sometimes the egg omelet (Tamago)is made with soy
sauce, you might also want to ask. Also, some special rolls like "Ebi Q"
might be rolled in tempura crumbs.

I'm glad you discovered this other reason not to ingest Tobiko;  I found
this out a year ago because I was having problems with Tobiko- stomach
inflammation from gastritis.  The tobiko package only said tobiko and then
one day I found one with ingredients listed which tobiko, monosodium
glutamate.  I then researched that ajinomoto or MSG from some Asian
countries is made from msg.  In discussing this issue with my GI, he said
that even if the MSG was made a gluten-free source, MSG is a
pro-inflammatory.

Yes, wasabi in the paste form has wheat.  Wasibi given as a whole root is ok
but i've never been to a restaurant that had that.

Hope this helps everyone.

Susan in Ct

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