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

Thanks to all who emailed back. I am so glad to hear that I can eat
quinoa and millet. I heard from some non-celiacs how good quinoa is, so
I am looking forward to try. I believe I'm starting to get a better
picture of the politics involved as well. Thanks again. Following are
the comments I received from my request.
______________________________________________________________________
I suffer from dh and itch if I get into gluten.  I, personally, have no
trouble with either quinoa or millet.  There was a great article in
GLUTEN-FREE LIVING recently that made the case that these grains (along
with buckwheat and some others) have no gluten in them.  I guess there
are some cross-contamination concerns but I have had no trouble so far.

By themselves, millet and quinoa are completely gluten free. There has
been some concern in the USA that wheat is grown on nearby fields and
the quinoa may be contaminated from stray grains that wander into the
next field and are harvested with the quinoa.  That is not likely to
happen. The quinoaa that comes in the turquoise colored boxes in the
States is grown in South America and is not contaminated.  I find millet
very dull and don't eat it, but quinoa is delicious.  Follow directions
on the box.

About quinoa: (I haven't used millet) The most daring thing I did in the
month of  September was to purchase quinoa pasta, hot cereal flakes and
a combination cold cereal containing quinoa plus amaranth, I think.  It
is called (?) Mesa Sunrise, I think, and is a nice change from the rice
and corn cereals.  I don't remember the manufacturer and don't have a
box in the house.
   CSA/USA has a very much more conservative stand on products than other
organizations.  Their prohibited list includes items that do not contain
gluten but which have caused problems for other celiacs, so they
recommend that those products be avoided.  Another  example is canola
oil.Gluten-Free Living has a newsletter print-out "An Overview of
'Other Grains'" which explains the reasons many experts believe these
grains are safe.  You will no doubt hear from Ann Whelan who I think is
on this list.

Many grain scientists and other experts say that quinoa does not contain
proteins toxic to celiacs. However many members of our support group
have  tried products containing it and have "celiac type" reactions. The
problem  may be one of cross contamination.

I have quinoa pasta once every two weeks with no problems except that my
blood sugars do go up.

Hate to say it, but the CSA/USA has in my opinion perpetuated a
ridiculous state of affairs for celiacs in the USA by listing several
products like quinoa, millet and canola off limits for celiacs.  Quinoa
and millet are both completely unrelated to wheat and similar grains and
should cause no problems for celiacs.  Certainly there may be some
people who have reactions to these grains as you'd find for any type of
food, but it should have nothing to do with celiac disease.  It should
be perfectly safe.  While it's possible that there could be
contamination, those arguments ring hollow with me.  There's risk of
contamination with any crop grown near a wheat field.  Neither quinoa
nor millet kernels have any resemblance to wheat berries.  I have no
problems eating either of these grains.  Ditto with canola oil.  Good
luck.

There are some Celiac Organizations in the US that are extremely closed
minded about the grain, quinoa.  The quinoa millers and growers only
grow quinoa and there is no possiblity of cross contamination and it is
a non-gluten grain.  The problem is that these Celiac Organizations
publish information about the grain as if they had scientific knowledge,
which they do not.  Some people have, what they believe to be, a
reaction to this grain.  This is no different than having a reaction to
soy, corn, nuts etc.  We, as celiacs, may have a number of other
sensitivities.  There is scientific information about quinoa in the
Celiac archives written by Don Kasarda who is a working scientist and
who has studied these grains for nearly 30 years.  Millet, on the other
hand, is from corn.  The major problem here is that there is a great
possibility that cross contamination exists.
   All will agree to leave this grain alone. I use quinoa pasta, quinoa
flour, mixes that contain quinoa and I haven't experienced any adverse
reaction form this grain. I'm sure that you will receive many responses
to you question. My only response to others having a negative response
to something, is don't use it.  Their response may not effect anyone
else.

I have eaten Quinoa and Amaranth bought at Wild Oats Health Food Store
in Santa Fe, NM with no problems (I am exceedingly sensitive).  Millet
is fine and one of the staples used in England for Coeliacs.  I do not
understand the nay-sayers, I have done the bio-medical research on the
above and there is absolutely no gluten in any of the three.  I was able
to buy Rice Flour & Millet bread in Santa Fe, baked daily at a bread
company in Taos and was never troubled-it was delicious and did not have
to be frozen.  Ahhhhh.  Also eat Millet cereal.  I have been at this for
23 years and am quite healthy, don't worry too much about the uptight
negative types who try to make this more complex or troublesome than it
is.

I've eaten millet with no problems. Quinoa doesn't agree with me, but I
do not believe that it has anything to do with gluten.

My husband eats quinoa with no problem.  I'm not sure about millet.

I don't seem to react to quinoa, but someone in the local support group
says her daughter gets very sick from it.

I have tried both without any problems, just trust the source.
______________________________________________________________________

Thanks again
Sheryl Tingley
Auburn, WA

        "Friendship is a sheltering tree"  ;)