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I got a number of different responses.  I did restate the question and
break it down into individual component questions regarding soy products,
yeast (baking type), mold ripened cheeses (as opposed to bacteria ripened
cheeses), and brown rice syrup.  I have likewise summarized responses
individually.

The consensus seemed to be that for those allergic to wheat, they prefer to
avoid all possible traces of it.  This means that even if we are unsure of
the form of protein potentially introduced (ie, with cultured grain
products), the "better safe than sorry" principle wins.

I did receive a number of people who seemed to be diagnosed by thier
doctors as wheat sensitive, but not celiac.   The nature of my question was
more to understand what types of foods need to be avoided by the people
with a wheat allergy, and the reasons and mechanisms for determining the
dietary differences between these two groups. This curiosity was shared by
most everyone that responded.  It seems everyone would like to understand
what the difference is.   But it appears the list of people desiring the
information is larger than those who have the answers.

There were also those who felt that wheat allergies create many more
reactions/sensitivities than gluten reactions.  This belief is based upon
"experts" that claim that celiacs can apparently tolerate up to X mg.of
various peptides per day without incurring visible damage to thier
intestines.  Therefore, any reaction to such small quantities must be
allergies, not celiac disease.  Thus, allergies and allergic individuals
would therefore be more sensitive and dietary selection criteria should be
appropriate to that conclusion.

I personally don't feel the science we have so far supports this, based
upon what I know of how IgE is formed.  Allergies are known to cross-react
among a number of different members of the same food families.  Whether the
reaction is driven by an IgE response to a similar protien fragment in many
members, or literally a different IgE response to each whole protein is the
case, I don't believe is known.  I tend to lean toward the whole protein
concept because of the different levels of immune response to varying
members of the same food family.   If it were a common peptide chain
causing allergies, there should be equal IgE levels for all foods
containing this chain.   The differing levels of IgE (which can be measured
objectively) to different members of the same allergen family support the
whole protein theory moreso than the partial protien.  Because of this, I'm
not sure I can buy the argument that any reaction from small quantities can
only be allergic in nature.

My conclusion is threefold.  First, there needs to be better information
provided to all consumers on just how our food is processed and what is in
it.  Secondly, there needs to be a better understanding and description of
both allergies and gluten intolerance in order to provide proper rationale
for making choices.  Finally, there needs to be better access to all of
this information, so that all of us can choose our foods wisely.

As far as scientific explanation for various preferences and opinions, I
guess we'll all just have to wait for well planned scientific studies to
provide more answers.  That also means we'll have to have the various
disciplines get together (like the food chemist and the immunologists) so
that more cohesive and useful information can be available to the rest of
us.

Joanne