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

My original post was about the Berlin Natural Bakery in Ohio stating that  
they used PURE, EUROPEAN SPELT and it was okay for people with wheat allergies  
or gluten intolerance and the bread label said Wheat Free.  .    And when the 
FDA forced the issue of wheat on the label, they complied, but also  put a 
newsletter in the product to state it was their original wheat-free  product that 
they always had.  
 
Anyway, I knew we couldn't have spelt, but some of the answers were  
interesting and included links to pages which described exactly what spelt  was..... 
which contains gluten.  Here are some answers.... VERY  IMPORTANT.....be sure 
to see the last one......  #7!     
 
Thanks To All Who Responded.  Bev Messner...Richland County Celiac  Support 
Group....Mansfield, Ohio
---------
 
1.   Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and there's gluten into  it.  It is 
lower gluten than modern wheat, but WAY too much for us.   It could be tolerated 
for those who have not a too severe wheat allergy, but it  is a no no for 
those with celiac.
 
2.  I definitely react to spelt. I think the industry is very confused  about 
it.  My health food store tells people it is digestable wheat. It is  my  
undersatanding it is still wheat....
 
3. . Well, from my understanding, spelt is the original uhybridized wheat.  
Before being diagnosed with celiac, we had switched to a lot of 100% spelt  
products, and coincidentally our symptoms of celiac were actually  magnified!   
Spelt caused more immediate and severe symptoms in us  back then---and now we 
know why.  So, would I trust pure European  spelt---no way!  
 
4.  My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease while we were  living in 
the Netherlands and we were also told NOT to eat spelt because it  contains 
wheat gluten.  I recently saw an ad in a flyer from a local health  food store 
saying spelt was okay, even for people for celiac.  Their  ignorance makes me 
mad.  I know better than to give her spelt, but someone  who is newly diagnosed 
might not know.  I wish they would quit saying it's  gluten free.
 
5.  This is from Wikipedia of spelt:
Spelt contains about 62  percent carbohydrates, 9.2 percent fibre [10], 17 
percent protein[11] and 2.7  percent fat, as well as dietary minerals and 
vitamins, including silica. As it  contains a moderate amount of gluten, it 
is suitable for baking. In Germany,  the unripe spelt grains are dried and 
eaten as Grünkern, which literally means  "green seed".    Spelt is closely 
related to common wheat, and is  not usually a suitable substitute for people with 
coeliac disease and wheat  allergy. However, spelt is sometimes used as an 
alternative grain for sufferers  of wheat intolerance and mild gluten 
intolerance . [12]

6.  We  live in Lancaster County,  PA and joined a plain Mennonite  church.  
I am sorry to say that these are lovely folks who make good  furniture and 
want to serve God, but sometimes they are very ignorant about  medical and 
scientific things because they get very little of it in their  schooling. My guess 
is these people are not deliberating hurting anybody,  they are probably just 
ignorant or some charlatan body has fed them a line of  'stuff' and they 
believed it.

 
7.  This seems  to be a blatant example of misleading and confusing 
advertising. I believe this  type of information in the package will also not be 
acceptable to the FDA. The  FDA needs to be made aware of this. The FDA already has 
declined one exemption  petition suggesting a specific form of spelt was 
different that all other  spelts…wheat is wheat…and all spelts are a form of  
wheat. I  have forwarded your message to an FDA rep for  comment.  Please  
continue to inform your members that products with spelt are not safe for  persons 
with celiac disease.       I want to be  sure that people understand that they 
do not appear (to me) to be in violation  of FALCPA (allergen law). They appear 
to be using misleading and confusing  advertising tactics. 
         
Cynthia Kupper, RD,  CD           Executive  Director           Gluten 
Intolerance  Group of North America



Visit the Celiac Web Page at Http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html
Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC