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

OK, first of all, THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Many people agreed that spices can
be a problem b/c of anti-caking agents with the exception of Tom, whose
response I copied below since he seems very knowledgeable and I thought that
many people might be interested to read that someone who has been GF for so
long has never had problems with spices.  (I hope that's ok, Tom)

Below is a list of spices that seem to be GF, with McCormicks being the
favorite, and a letter from their rep. is copied below for those interested.

Second, many people also said that meats, especially pork, can be a problem
since they inject with broth, tenderizer, juicizer, etc.  I think that the
pork chops I bought from the little "carniceria" down the way from my house
probably came from the neighbor's pig last weekend, but I will definitely
keep that in mind when I am buying commercial meats and when in the US.
(Maybe finally I have found a plus of living in a foreign country and being
GF  - non doctored meats!)

Last, someone else mentioned that they had problems with cumin period, and a
few people mentioned problems with certain spices sometimes and not others.
I guess we are back to bland for a while.

What would I do without all of you to help me?? Thanks again,  Emily

McCormick (all simple spices, but not mixes)

Frontier

 Spice Islands

Tones brand is also supposed to be gluten free. I think that they are made
by McCormick.

"Penzey's Spices."
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/scstore/shophome.html?E+scstor
e  (someone commented that their taco seasoning is NOT GF)

Krogers Brand

I think Lawrys spices are gf also, but I honestly can't remember

Check safe foods lists at enabling.com and delphiforums.com

From Tom:
Many celiacs seem to believe that spices are sometimes packed with a
gluten-containing anti-caking agent, but I have been GF for 25 years and
have
never seen an example of one that was actually confirmed.

Note that this is different from finding one where the manufacturer won't
guarantee GFness. That in no way indicates that there is any possibility of
gluten
in the product, but only that their lawyers won't let them guarantee
anything-
probably including whether the sun will rise in the morning. But many
celiacs seem
to interpret that as evidence of an actual risk.

Gluten Free Living magazine, which is the best source I've found for
information
on issues like this, has not found a problem with spices. They have found a
possible problem with flavorings on meat products (not elsewhere) which do
apparently carry some risk.



Here is the info I received from them:(McCormicks)

Dear Consumer:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.  We appreciate your interest
in our products and welcome the
opportunity to be of assistance to you.

We are aware of special allergies and intolerances to certain ingredients
such as the following:

Peanuts        Fish Soy proteins   Sulfites
Tree nuts Eggs Wheat proteins Yellow No. 5 & 6
Shellfish      Milk Red Pepper

As a responsible food company, McCormick follows the U.S. Food Drug &
Cosmetic Act regulations to
ensure consumer safety concerning food allergens.  We declare these
ingredients on our label in the
ingredient statement.  Federal regulations require us to list sulfites if
they are over 10 parts per million, so
we use that as our label declaration limit.

Because we are constantly improving our products, we do not offer a list of
our products that do not
currently contain glutens.  We encourage you to read the ingredient
statement on your package at the time
of purchase to ensure accurate, up to date information.

In addition, we follow good manufacturing practices at our plants.  Our
employees are trained in the
importance of correct labeling and the necessity of performing thorough
equipment wash-downs to
eliminate cross contact of ingredients.

Although we cannot guarantee our products to be 100% free of allergens not
listed on the label, we want
you to know that we take this situation seriously and have taken extra
precautions to eliminate the
possibility of mislabeling or cross contact.

Ground Ginger and Chipotle are both gluten free.

If we can be of further assistance, please call us at 1-800-632-5847,
Monday through Friday, 9:30AM to
5PM Eastern Time.  We hope to have the continued pleasure of serving you.

Sincerely,
Carolyn Stone
Consumer Affairs Specialist
Ref # 303457

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*