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

A post about possible gluten in rice was made to the List recently and
it is appropriate to add some clarifications.  My reply is intended to
forestall an unnecessary mass avoidance of rice.

The poster was from Canada and the actual ingredients used on their rice
may be different than what is used on US rice.

Please keep in mind that just because you are a celiac does not protect
you from other possible allergies or intolerances.  Since symptoms can
be so different between people and vary with time, we should be careful
not to automatically associate a sickness with the consumption of a
hidden gluten.  It is one thing to state that you avoid a product
because of reactions.  When we label an item as containing a toxic
gluten protein, we should provide supporting documentation.

Please keep in mind that my celiac lifestyle is a 100% GF diet.  But
with this in mind I try to give others adequate information so that they
can evaluate for themselves the use of or avoidance of a product.

The post about gluten in rice included:

>A few weeks ago I wrote about getting sick on some plain white rice.
>A few people responded that some rice is apparently coated with a
>starch, more than likely wheat starch, and some white rices are
>processed in barley water, and some are now being enriched with
>wheat.

The processing of rice with barely water is likely addressing Rice Dream
(a milk substitute made from rice), not rice itself.  This information
was repeated on Sunday.  In the US, the barley water used in processing
is not required to be listed as an added ingredient.  As a celiac this
does not make me happy but until we can show the FDA the numbers of
celiacs adversely effected by this practice, no changes are likely.

Earlier this year I made a post on the rice enrichment process, it is in
the reference file "GRAINS'.  Yes it is possible that wheat starch could
be the carrier used for applying the vitamins.  But after talking with
the two largest companies in this area and the grain chemists associated
with our largest rice companies, I feel that this is a very small risk.

If you would like to read the complete discussion, FORWARD this message
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----
Michael Jones ([log in to unmask]) Orlando, FL USA
One of the Celiac & Cel-Kids Listowners
Visit the Celiac WEB site at: rdz.stjohns.edu/lists/celiac