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At 10:54 PM -0500 12/6/03, Dawn Dutton wrote:

>Wendy's has an online gf menu now (see links below).  But it specifies
>that it can not be reproduced.  So, you'll have to go look at it
>yourself!

Thank you to Dawn, and others, for efforts in putting out information
about GF menus on this list.  Like so many others, I so want to be
able to eat out still -- and feel safe doing so.  I download and
print every menu for reference.

But I downloaded the Wendy's menu, and it gives me some pause.  When
we go to any restaurant that provides a GF menu, it seems that we
must ask ourselves, "what do THEY mean by 'gluten-free?'"  I find it
awfully frustrating, and certainly there is no way we can get an
answer to that from the server or even the restaurant manager, if it
is a chain.

In this particular case, the Wendy's menu says, at the top,
"Gluten-Free" -- but then, right below that, it says "No Wheat Flour
or Distilled Vinegar" -- which leads me to worry THAT must be their
definition of GF. (I understand there are people on this list who are
wheat-sensitive only, but Wendy's does state "gluten-free.")

If that is, indeed, the definition of GF from Wendy's ... does that
mean they did not kick out foods that could have barley, rye, malt or
oats (and I am someone who is affected by oats, even uncontaminated
ones)?  It seems that most organizations, and people here, tend to
feel safe that distilled vinegars are OK, because of the distilling
process.  Vinegars containing malt are not GF, of course. Does it
mean that they ALSO kicked out foods that we might be able to
consume, simply because they have distilled vinegar in them?  We'll
never know, I suppose.

I am also concerned about Taco Bell.  I got a list of GF items from
them when I first started on this diet -- about 18 months ago.  It
was/is the same list that was most recently posted here.  I guess
this concerns me because they have, per the trades, gone through a
number of reformulations of their beans and meats (in addition to
other items would never be GF, such as the tortillas) in those 18
months.  18 months ago, the list also contained the item: "Bean
Tostada (ONLY when made with the original tostada shell)," as noted
on the list that they gave to Dawn.  I've gone to Taco Bells in five
different states, and inquired about this "bean tostada," only to be
told it is not on the menu, and has not been for years.  Why does
this make me just REALLY nervous!  To me, it suggests that perhaps
they have not updated their GF list in literally years!  I will say,
however, that I do eat Pintos 'n' Cheese at TB, and have never had
any sense that it does me harm.  But I may not be as immediately
sensitive as others who read this listserv.

I expect there are no good answers to my worries.  I ate at a local
PF Chang's, using the GF menu.  I was so excited!  I was given an
explanation of what they use in the food and how it is prepared.  I
felt safe.  But the next day, I thought I'd been hit by a truck.  Was
it perhaps something else?  There's no way for me to know (though
there weren't any other likely "suspects" for that day).  But now
that I see the Wendy's menu, I am left to wonder if PF Chang's (or
any other restaurant's) definition of GF is as off-the-mark as
Wendy's possibly is!

I am so glad that many restaurants are making gluten information
about their product available.  But I find myself so worried that
they may have an unqualified someone making the determination of what
is and is not "gluten-worthy."

I'm just positing a frustrated point-of-view here.  Please do not
load up my mailbox with e-mails about how it is risky to eat out.
:-)  I know that.  I just don't want to live in a cave, which is what
it feels like sometimes.

-Suzanne Rampton
  Indiana

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