<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> OK, first of all, THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Many people agreed that spices can be a problem b/c of anti-caking agents with the exception of Tom, whose response I copied below since he seems very knowledgeable and I thought that many people might be interested to read that someone who has been GF for so long has never had problems with spices. (I hope that's ok, Tom) Below is a list of spices that seem to be GF, with McCormicks being the favorite, and a letter from their rep. is copied below for those interested. Second, many people also said that meats, especially pork, can be a problem since they inject with broth, tenderizer, juicizer, etc. I think that the pork chops I bought from the little "carniceria" down the way from my house probably came from the neighbor's pig last weekend, but I will definitely keep that in mind when I am buying commercial meats and when in the US. (Maybe finally I have found a plus of living in a foreign country and being GF - non doctored meats!) Last, someone else mentioned that they had problems with cumin period, and a few people mentioned problems with certain spices sometimes and not others. I guess we are back to bland for a while. What would I do without all of you to help me?? Thanks again, Emily McCormick (all simple spices, but not mixes) Frontier Spice Islands Tones brand is also supposed to be gluten free. I think that they are made by McCormick. "Penzey's Spices." http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/scstore/shophome.html?E+scstor e (someone commented that their taco seasoning is NOT GF) Krogers Brand I think Lawrys spices are gf also, but I honestly can't remember Check safe foods lists at enabling.com and delphiforums.com From Tom: Many celiacs seem to believe that spices are sometimes packed with a gluten-containing anti-caking agent, but I have been GF for 25 years and have never seen an example of one that was actually confirmed. Note that this is different from finding one where the manufacturer won't guarantee GFness. That in no way indicates that there is any possibility of gluten in the product, but only that their lawyers won't let them guarantee anything- probably including whether the sun will rise in the morning. But many celiacs seem to interpret that as evidence of an actual risk. Gluten Free Living magazine, which is the best source I've found for information on issues like this, has not found a problem with spices. They have found a possible problem with flavorings on meat products (not elsewhere) which do apparently carry some risk. Here is the info I received from them:(McCormicks) Dear Consumer: Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate your interest in our products and welcome the opportunity to be of assistance to you. We are aware of special allergies and intolerances to certain ingredients such as the following: Peanuts Fish Soy proteins Sulfites Tree nuts Eggs Wheat proteins Yellow No. 5 & 6 Shellfish Milk Red Pepper As a responsible food company, McCormick follows the U.S. Food Drug & Cosmetic Act regulations to ensure consumer safety concerning food allergens. We declare these ingredients on our label in the ingredient statement. Federal regulations require us to list sulfites if they are over 10 parts per million, so we use that as our label declaration limit. Because we are constantly improving our products, we do not offer a list of our products that do not currently contain glutens. We encourage you to read the ingredient statement on your package at the time of purchase to ensure accurate, up to date information. In addition, we follow good manufacturing practices at our plants. Our employees are trained in the importance of correct labeling and the necessity of performing thorough equipment wash-downs to eliminate cross contact of ingredients. Although we cannot guarantee our products to be 100% free of allergens not listed on the label, we want you to know that we take this situation seriously and have taken extra precautions to eliminate the possibility of mislabeling or cross contact. Ground Ginger and Chipotle are both gluten free. If we can be of further assistance, please call us at 1-800-632-5847, Monday through Friday, 9:30AM to 5PM Eastern Time. We hope to have the continued pleasure of serving you. Sincerely, Carolyn Stone Consumer Affairs Specialist Ref # 303457 *Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*