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I asked this:

What is everyone thinking about the new alternatives to plastic straws? Some
are made with what they are calling straw, which I guess is hay. Is that a
grass? It's never wheat is it? I've also seen forks and spoons made of
wheat. Not sure if they are marketed as gluten-free or not. 

 

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies! I think I'll pack a stainless,
silicone or plastic straw in my purse and ask when I order a drink.

 

These are the answers I received:

 

1.	I think they will go back to making paper straws.  Besides, if you
are not consuming the straw, you should be fine (BTW I totally disagree with
the 2nd sentence. Any liquid you sip through a straw with gluten will be a
major cross-contamination issue in my mind.)

 

2.	I think this can be very problematic for us. A friend was given a
pasta straw. That for sure was wheat. We need to be very careful. Since a
straw is not food, I don't think FDA labeling applies 

 

3.	Another question is - do they use wheat to make it stick together
because they seem to be rolled.

 

4.	I have not yet come across the kind of straws you reference, but
with a farming background, I would NOT recommend them for Celiac or other
gluten intolerant people.  Hay and straw are not the same thing at all,
though they are processed and stored similarly.  Hay is made of Celiac safe
grasses- Timothy, orchard grass, fescue and others (hay can also be legumes,
but that is a digression here).  But hay rarely has a hollow center.  Straw
is the stalk left over after cutting grain off the top of the plant-most
commonly wheat, barley and rye!!! These often do have a hollow center.  But,
I don't think you will see me giving these a try or recommending them for
Celiac family members.  The risk is too great for my comfort, though
technically the gluten part of the plant is up in the grain.   The grain
dust and contamination during normal harvesting and processing is crazy.
Hay and straw are processed on the same equipment, so even if it was a safe
species of plant, I would be cautious.  My advice, and what I do- silicon
straws!  They wash up nicely, and I have a rainbow of pretty colors.  

 

5.	I am a farm girl.   Straw is never hay.   Hay comes from cutting
grass or alfalfa or clover or and edible food for animals.   Straw is the
dead plant material that is left from grain.   Usually the grain is wheat,
rye, oats, or barley.   Millet has more of corn plant structure and usually
not used for straw.   Buckwheat does not produce straw either.   The stem is
too large.   So therefore the straws would most likely not be gluten free or
would be highly contaminated  

 

6.	Straw is typically the stems of grass, which does include wheat.
Stems do not contain protein, which is in the seed/wheat kernel.  

 

7.	Wheat is the US today is grows on short stems which yields more
grain because it's less likely to be knocked to the ground by weather
events.   There are probably better varieties of grass-longer stems/larger
diameter for making straws than wheat.  Straw would have to be cleaned in
some manner & it's likely that grass used has not been tested to see if its
seeds contain gluten.  It would be a better alternative that's what one of
the places in our area is using--long hollow tubes of uncooked pasta.

 


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