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

I posted a summary last week, but it seems to have disappeared into
cyberspace.  I'll try to reconstuct it as best I can.

   To begin with, there was the question as to whether or not Tabasco is
GF.  I was finally able to get in touch with the company, and their answer
still doesn't resolve the issue:

   "All of our sauces contain grain vinegar as an ingredient.  Vinegar is
produced by fermenting a grain based alcohol.  The principal grains used in
alcohol production are wheat and milo.  Gluten and other proteins are
removed during the alcohol fermentation process.

   "McIlhenny Company uses a single supplier, National Vinegar Company in
Houston TX for all its vinegar needs.  The raw material supplier to
National Vinegar Compnay has assured us that in the process of making
the
distilled alcohol from grain, gluten and all other proteins are removed.
Thus the vinegar is free of gluten.

   "As an added precaution, McIlhenny Company has tested all its sauces and
vinegar to ensure that the product is gluten free.  The tests were
conducted by the Food Allergy Research and REsource Program at the
University of Nebraska Lincoln.  The detection limit of the test is
0.016%.  No gluten was detected in Tabasco brand Pepper Sauce using this
test.

   "Even though no gluten was detected in Tabasco brand sauce, this does
not indicate that the sauce is gluten free.  McIlhenny Company strongly
suggests that consumers who are affected by celiac sprue or who are
affected by the consumption of gluten in any way consult a doctor prior to
using Tabasco brand products."

   Now, I don't know about anyone else, but consulting my doctor would
do me no good at all, since I know more about what's GF and what's not
than he does.  So we've got to make our own decisions as to how
reassuring the above information is.  For those who remain uneasy about
Tabasco, there are some alternatives.  Unfortunately, when I posted last
time, I assumed that the post would go through and I deleted some of the
email messages, so I have lost a few.  For that, I apologize.  Here are
the relpies I still have:

*Mr. Spice Tangy Bang Hot Sauce

*Edward & Sons Trading Co - The Wizards Habanior (sp?) Super Hot Stuff
Spicy Hot Sauce...

*Grace Jamaican Hot Pepper Sauce.  Its ingredients are:  Capsicum
Peppers, Water, Cane Vinegar, Salt, Sugar.  It's available from several
hot sauce web sites, including Salsas, Etc. (link
http://www.salsasetc.com/catalog/h-138.html ).   (I found several
sources through a Google search.)  It's a great hot sauce, very similar
to Tabasco, with more flavor and a bit hotter.  I hope this helps!

*In many recipes, I just add a little cayenne.

*Grow or buy some chilli peppers.  Slice them up, put them in gf vinegar
or lemon juice.  Either marinate in the refrigerator or puree the chillis
in and refrigerate.  Salt to taste (although with lemon juice you might
not need to).  This is so easy that I can't believe how many years I kept
tabasco in the house!

Bobbie