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

thanks to all who replied. i was going to wait to summarize until i received
p&g's policy per email but due to a new development decided to go ahead and
send the policy on later, when i receive it.

last week, i talked with p&g representatives at the head and shoulders 800
number and at another 800 number one of our members said she had used. i
placed a total of 3 phone calls, the last two i asked to be relayed on to a
supervisor. my point was that asking for a doctor's letter seemed
unreasonable to me, especially for persons with disabilities and that their
competitors were furnishing this information with no problem.

each time i was told that the formulas change often and personnel in customer
affairs can't know any longer whether a product is gluten-free or not. that
they did not want to give erroneous information out and would research a
request once a doctor's letter was received and only then. that this process
would take time. i was consistently told this was a new policy.

my intent in talking with them was to point out that within the celiac
community there were some concerns about this policy change and that the
desire was not to be adversarial but to work together to create a solution
which made sense to both parties. we, in calling the number, are hoping to be
customers, after all.

this afternoon, i received a call from one of the representatives i had
spoken with. she said they were making an exception for me and that the
product, head and shoulders for dry scalp, 2 in 1 for normal to dry hair is
gluten free.

i was happy to hear this and surprised since the research did not take very
long. i once again requested a copy of the policy so i could send it on to
the newsgroup.


now to summarize your responses:

two people had been given the same response to queries about pantene and oil
of olay, products of p&g.

one was told that this info. would not be withheld. i am not sure if this is
meant as long as a doctor's letter was received.

others were told this was proprietary info. and was not being divulged for
that reason.  and this pertained to non-food items. that there was no new
policy.

as for ways of dealing with this:

flood p&g with calls; ask to speak to management in customers affairs; go to
the corporate web site and email.

" ...if you have a Yahoo account, go to the Yahoo Finance site,
put in their stock symbol, and click on "Msgs" under More Information.
Let the stockholders know why we won't be buying P & G's products...why
we can't buy the products. It's a legitimate post on the prospects of
the company's earnings."

a member is considering contacting a lawyer for advice, also the local media.
she also pointed out that the peanut allergy folks have succeeded in having
their voices heard.

that if we stand as a community we can work together to establish our rights
for information and labeling.

an online petition to be sent to representatives and senators could be
organized.

that we tell p&g that we are not interested in nor asking for the formula,
simply the presence of gluten.

we write courteous letters pointing out that this policy places "an undue and
unreasonable burden on consumers and their physicians."

merrie sent a letter, which i think we all received, which i believe she is
willing to send to dateline. people can respond directly to her on that.

interest in the three national celiac organizations representing us on this
issue with p&g.

i am now going to give two excerpts from a long and thoughtful message......

"... points out the problems we have when there is no national identity and
the diets are sometimes contradictory regarding the presence of gluten.  We
aren't even sure what to say about our condition: is it celiac disease,
malabsorption syndrome, gluten sensitive enteropathy, or Celiac Sprue...?  We
have the Celiac Disease Foundation, Celiac Sprue Association and Gluten
Intolerance Group. We have either  a rare disorder or the most commonly
genetically transferred disease in the US....

she concludes, "Remembering that P&G has been stung repeatedly with
acrimonious charges that their corporate logo affirmed devil worship, it is
no wonder that they (or their corporate attorney) has decided that we are so
disorganized that we have little impact on their bottom line.  Until we can
"get our act together" it is merely a matter of time until other companies
follow suit.  We are already seeing some companies put the disclaimer on
their products : May contain wheat, gluten or nuts.  This tells us nothing,
since it may contain only nuts and be gf."


once again, thanks to all who considered the situation and responded. it
seems to me that we are advocates for our own health rather than simply
victims of a disease. and that companies just might listen to us if we speak.

mollie