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Original Question: Does anyone have experience with ingesting grass from 
glutenous grains?

I picked up a rice shake from a company called Amazake (Dairy Free-Gluten 
Free) and the ingredients are as follows: Cultured Organic Rice, Banana 
Puree, Almonds, Spirulina, Xanthan Gum, Natural Vanilla and Banana 
Flavors, Alfalfa, Wheat Grass, Oat Grass, Barley Grass and Kamut Grass. 

I have Shelley Cases' book - there was no mention that I could find. Dana 
Korn's book, Living Gluten Free for Dummies, says grasses are gf, but to = 
consider sources (how?). When I called Jamba Juice about their 
supplements, they said NOT gf. CSA says NOT gf. 

I'm confused and would like your experiences/thoughts. 

Summary: "Better safe, than sorry," or "When in doubt, leave it out."

Of the 11 responses, 8 agreed to NOT risk trying for fear of 
contamination. The 9th person tried, had no problems, but reconsidered for 
risk of contamination. The 10th person knew someone ingesting it regularly 
and wanted to know the answer, and the 11th person was also curious. I'm 
surprised (or should I be?) there isn't testing to confirm ppm somwhere in 
the annals of science- but I guess that's what the FDA's upcoming 
legislation will "test." Maybe Amazake's label will change after 
legislation/ruling of the definition of ppm. (I tried to contact them via 
website, amazake.net, but it's inactive and I get hijacked.) 

Here are most of the responses I got if you want to read them: 

1.------- 
What you have done is broken the code: rye, barley and wheat are grasses. 
If you sprout the heads of a wheat grass, you will get an immature wheat  
plant. It will look like grass. When it gets mature, the grass will put  
out a seed stalk and grow seeds. It is the wheat seeds we eat as wheat  
flour. Ditto for rye, barley, oats, sorghum, wild rice, corn, teff, 
millet, and a number of other grasses. 

There is a protein in wheat seeds, barley seeds, and rye seeds that is 
toxic to celiacs. This toxic protein has several peptides (protein 
fragments) called 33mer. That is what causes a problem. Oats do not, but 
some celiacs are intolerant to oats. Most celiacs tolerate the other 
grasses. Wheat, barley and rye belong to a class of grasses called 
triticum. Interestingly, there are some members of that family that do not 
produce 33mer peptide, and these are under investigation as being safe for 
celiacs. With respect to wheat grass, barley grass or rye grass, I don't 
know whether the grasses themselves have 33mer. I would suspect not, but 
it is not worth taking the chance. 

The purpose of the toxic prolamine in wheat grass, for example, is to 
provide nitrogen for the seedling so it can be fed when it sprouts. The 
grass doesn't need this amino acid while it grows. 

2.------- 
The grasses themselves are gluten-free if there is no contamination from 
the seed. This is not a risk I'm willing to take. Seeds are used in 
planting the grass, if unsprouted grass seeds turn up in the harvest or an 
errant plant goes to seed unusually quickly, there would be potential for 
contamination, in my mind. 

3.------- 
Definitely not safe. My theory, and also that of many other celiac 
friends, is that it is not just the gluten from the mature grains, but the 
entire plant and ALL derivitaves, as grain alcohols don't agree with us 
either. 

4.------- 
All four of the grasses are suspect. Any thing with wheat or barley are no 
nos. 

5.------- 
Gluten is a storage protein that occurs inside grains. Its purpose in 
botany is to assist the plant's reproduction by providing nourishment to 
the sprouting seed. Each type of grain has its own form of gluten Gliadin 
is the gluten in wheat; Avenin in oats; and Horeidin in either rye or 
barley, I forget which. The juice from wheat grass, barley grass, rye 
grass, et cetera, *should* be gluten free because the storage protein 
should not occur within the leaves of grass; only in the grains. If you 
were to walk through a field of barley, and pluck a leaf of barley grass 
and chew on it, you should come to no harm from it. 

The difficulty with 'grass juices' arises from the way in which they are 
manufactured. The grain grasses are grown in loose soil in large trays. 
When these are harvested it is almost certain that a few clumps of grass 
will have grains attached to them, and these grains will be crushed into 
the juice. 

It is hypothetically possible that the rice shake could be gluten free, 
but I would be wary of that claim, unless Amazake can confirm that the 
grasses have been harvested by hand, and carefully inspected to ensure 
that no grains have been included in the juice. 

6.------- 
The grasses would be considered gluten free because the prolamines are 
found in the grains or seed of the plant. However, there is the 
possibility of contamination. It depends on much risk you are willing to 
take. My personal motto is, if in doubt leave it out. 

7.------- 
Let me know. I don't believe it, though I have been told such. If it is 
wheat...in my mind it has gluten. 

8.------- 
After reading the endless list of benefits to mankind wheat grass has to 
offer, I just HAD to try it. I drank a wheat grass/ carrot juice beverage 
at a health food juice bar. I watched closely as the girl carefully cut 
the fresh growing grass to make sure she didn't accidentally get some seed 
in it. It was a palatable & I didn't get sick from it. That prompted me to 
further pursue the virtues of wheat grass. I bought a couple small flats 
of wheat grass & made beverages from it at home. No problems. I didn't get 
sick. Yeah! So I bought some wheat seed, a large growing tray & some 
sterile potting mix & began growing my own at home. But suddenly one day, 
as I was using aseptic technique to handle the toxic wheat seeds, I 
started to question my motives: Why am I doing this? Do I have some 
psycho/physiological need for the adrenalin rush that comes from "living 
on the edge"? You know, like those guys who have do to extreme sports like 
hand gliding just to feel alive? The answer came loud and clear from that 
familiar little voice inside my head, "NO!" I threw out all the wheat seed 
and grass & settled back down into a safer, more conservative GF 
lifestyle. My world is already peppered with so many perils, I get dizzy 
trying to figure it all out. Who needs another risk? Certainly not me. I 
don't need any more adrenalin rushes than I already encounter on an almost 
daily basis trying to stay safe! 

9.------- 
The grasses (and juice pressed from the grasses) are gluten free, as the  
gluten proteins are converted into harmless molecules during sprouting.

Small sprouts can be a problem if the hulls are still present, or if a 
batch of sprouts contains unsprouted grain from broken kernels. The hulls 
and unsprouted grain pieces are generally not an issue with the grass 
trimmings. 

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