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

With summer on its way (eventually), many of us from the central
Eastern seaboard are starting to think of steamed crabs, steamed
shrimp and other well-spiced delicacies. Since the crab spices on the
supermarket shelves are blends, this may give rise to ingredient
worries. I just verified 2 brands that say they are GF.

McCormick's Old Bay is a blend of pure spices, no flour added. (The
very nice lady I spoke to at the toll-free Consumer Affairs number
asked right away, "Are you gluten-intolerant?" and added to the Old
Bay info that if no ingredient list is on the label that the product
is a pure spice. Some spice blends, however, may not be GF, and
McCormick's doesn't guarantee that any blends may not be
cross-contaminated. So, with your label in front of you, feel free to
ask. They are a Baltimore-based company, and most of my spices are
theirs, so I was relieved to find dealing with them so easy. They are
widely distributed.)

 The toll-free number to call for McCormick's is 1-800-632-5847.

Wye River's Original Red and Spicy Black formulas are both GF. I
stopped by their outlet on Maryland's Eastern Shore yesterday, and
spoke with the guy there. He said that the "mustard" and the "mustard
flour" listed on the labels are ground from pure mustard seed
(actually, he said "I grind. . ." !) and that the "mustard flour" is
just an extra fine grind. He volunteered, however, that all of Wye
River's soups have wheat flour in them as a binding agent, and I also
saw that the Crab Imperial and CrabCake blends list bread crumbs as
the first ingredient, so they are *not* GF. Only the Original Red and
Spicy Black blends are GF. (The outlet also had these blends in large
packets, with added flakes of sea salt.) This is a relatively local
outfit, I think, although easy to find in Maryland, and I have seen
their products in Delaware.

Wye River, Inc. has no toll-free number, but is area code 410,
827-7777. (Their outlet is on west-bound Rt. 50, between the Bay
Bridge and the turn-off for Rt. 404, if you are going down-ee-ocean.)

Hope this helps my fellow crab fans.
Bobbi in Baltimore