<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear listmates (THIS IS THE ORIG. POSTING-SEE RESPONSES AT END), I wanted to report that after having an isolated instance of diarrhea, I immediately suspected based on my prior day's food diary, Haagan-Dazs chocolate sorbet bars. According to the companys's written response, it declares all sources of gluten on Nestle Brand labels "even if present as part of another ingredient". However, in pursuing this matter further, I called the customer representative who I had previously spoken with who told me that the "wrong letter" was sent to me since it had not addressed my question. She commented that even though her signature was on the letter, it was her manager who had sent out a general letter. The letter was supposed to address my question of whether the natural vanilla contained an alcohol and if so, what was the alcohol derived from? Based on the ingredients on the box ("water, sugar, corn syrup, egg whites, lowfat cocoa and cocoa processed with alkali, fruit pectin, natural vanilla, salt"), the one ingredient I suspected was natural vanilla. The customer representative revealed that the natural vanilla was extracted with a "grain alcohol" but she did not know whether it was distilled and the type of grain. In the initial first call, she also commented that if the vanilla contained an alcohol, that it would only be in "parts per thousand". When I asked if I could receive a written response about the "natural vanilla" ingredient, the customer representative once again affirmed that her manager would decide what letter was to be sent out again. After this exposure, I had increasing fatigue for several days in addition to this isolated instance of diarrhea. I was disturbed to discover that the company could not tell me the type of grain in the alcohol based natural vanilla and whether it was distilled; If my questions could not be answered, I wondered how the company could assure that the product is GF based on its labelling practices? It can't because the company already states in its letter that "we do use shared equipment when producing products". I asked that the customer representative forward my comment that the "natural vanilla" should be investigated for containing gluten and that if it does, it should be disclosed on the label. Contact info: www.nestleusa.com or 1-800-767-0120 P.S. Although, the product states that it "may contain traces amounts of milk protein", I have no effects of diarrhea with my own homemade chocolate mousse made from scratch with lactase enzyme and can eat small amounts without lactase support. However before I went gluten-free over a year ago, even infrequent and small tests of dairy foods with lactase enzyme would cause intense digestive symptoms. Laura Y. UPDATE: After receiving the following responses, I called Haagan-Dazs back and spoke to a program manager who denied gluten to be in the "natural vanilla" but she is currently escalating my question for further research. She did admit that it was extracted with an alcohol but denied it to be a grain alcohol, didn't know if the alcohol was distilled, claimed that the customer service representative was incorrect, and told me that she was the program manager who sent me out the original general letter response which I told her had not addressed my question of whether the "natural vanilla" was extracted with a grain alcohol and it's source. She claimed that this original general letter was the correct letter when in my previous call, the customer svc. rep. claimed that the incorrect letter had been sent out and that if I asked my question to be addressed again, the same manager would be the one to send out the letter again. My response to no. 1 below, is that I feel it's better to be safe in regards to our health then sorry after the fact and I'm only trying to warn others of an isolated and rare case of diarrhea that I am certain was this product as I still keep a food diary and it was this food diary which helped me discover that wheat was the culprit before seeking an official diagnosis. I like you have had many reactions since going GF that I'm aware were not gluten-related. Also, each one of us has a right to make our own informed choices and make reasonable decisions. Yes, companies may make mistakes and we just have to be alert to such a risk. You also have a right to voice your own opinion. Thank you all for your responses. Laura Y. 1)So what are you saying, there is or is not gluten? Also, if the "grain alcohol" has been distilled, even if it's from a wheat source, it should be almost impossible to get gluten from it. I have found that my system is just plain sensitive, especially now that I am GF. I have little things that go on all the time that mimic symptoms. I dismiss them when I know all I have eaten is fruit, etc. I know it's difficult but I would caution making blanket statements with out definite answers. We all have to decide how and what to eat that suits us individually. I think it would be sad to scare someone off of products that are required to back up labels and further narrow their diets by a simple misunderstanding. Companies are not perfect, nor are the people who we speak with when we call. They are human just like us... 2)If you are sure it was the sorbet, I would suspect cross-contamination. If Nestle is like other ice cream producers, the white ice creams are run first during the morning, then other flavors with additives like cookies, and usually the chocolates are run last (so any other flavors or colors don't show up). They do clean the lines between runs, but you can't guarantee that one batch might not have some leftover cookie particles in it. I don't know if grain alcohol that is not distilled would ever be used in flavoring. Are there any other suspicious foods that might be the culprit? 3)Cocoa processed with alkali is also to be avoided according to CSA. 4)What about Edys sorbet it is made from fruit and not gluten and or wheat. _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail *Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*