<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> I have received several helpful emails in response to my questions about ice cream. I do plan to summarize them in a day or two once the responses slow down but in the meantime several people have responded to me and mentioned that they had the same question about mono & diglycerides. I wanted to go ahead and forward this very helpful email that I received. Thanks so much to Barb & Glenn for this information! >From: "Barb & Glenn Hicks" <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Mono and Diglycerides >Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 07:53:43 -0600 > >Thought this might help with the mono and diglycerides question. > >Barbara in Missouri > >PS Baskin Robbins has a list of GF ice cream. We have never had a problem >eating ice cream anywhere as long as it is vanilla. > > > > >Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 12:51:56 -0500 > > >From: Ann Whelan <[log in to unmask]> > > >Subject: Mono and diglycerides > ><<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your >situation.>> > >As promised, here is the material on glycerides from Gluten-Free Living: > >Mono and diglycerides > >Simply put, mono- and diglycerides are fats. They are made from >oil,usually soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, or palm oil, act as >emulsifiers (provide a consistent texture and prevent separation), and >are used in most baked products to keep them from getting stale. In ice >cream and other processed foods, including margarine, instant potatoes, >and chewing gum, they serve as stabilizers, which give foods body and >improve consistency > >Mono and diglycerides themselves do not contain gluten. There is nothing >approaching gluten that is present inmono and diglycerides, said Larry >Skogerson, vice president and technicaldirector for American >Ingredients, one of the largest producers of mono and diglycerides in >the country. His company, as well as Archer Daniels Midland and Danisco >Cultor - the largest maker in the US, are all located in Kansas >City,leading one representative to joke that it is the mono and >diglyceride capital of the world. > >Skogersen said mono anddiglycerides are produced from glycerin and oil, >which are heated to very high temperatures to allow the fat molecules to >rearrange with the glycerin. There are no proteins, no allergens of any >kind, Skogersen said. Neil Widlak, director of fats and oils research >for ADM,agreed that the production of mono and diglycerides does not >include any ingredient or process that would involve gluten. Ram Chau >Dhari, senior executive vice president of research and development for >Foritech Inc., a New Jersey company, summed up the likelihood that mono >and diglycerides contain gluten this way: not possible at all. > >But mono and diglycerides are almost always on lists of questionable >foods for celiacs because of the possibility that wheat might be used >with them as a carrier. Claire Regan,director of public affairs for >Kraft Foods, Inc., said a carrier ingredient is sometimes added to foods >along with additives like mono and diglycerides to make them perform >they way they are supposed to in the food. > >Under FDA regulations, a carrier used with mono and diglycerides in this >manner would fall into the incidental additive category. Additives are >considered incidental when they are present in insignificant amounts and >have no technical or functional effect on the final food product. FDA >regulations, which generally require that all ingredients of a food be >listed on the label, do allow certain incidental additives to be left >off the label. > >However, recent concern about allergens has led the FDA to warn food >manufacturers that it does not consider the eight most common food > >allergens (eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, shellfish,soy, tree nuts such as >almonds or cashews, and wheat) eligible for this labeling exemption. The >FDA first clarified the exemption in 1996 in response to a growing >number of reports of allergic reactions from foods that accordingto >their label should have been allergen free. Now, the FDA has updated >that clarification in a compliance policy guide for the food industry >that says incidental additives containing common food allergens have >never been considered eligible for the exemption. The Food Allergy >Issues Alliance, a group of food trade associations and consumer >interest groups, in May issued labeling guidelines that say incidental >additives should be on the label. For celiacs this means that if wheat >is used as a carrier for mono and diglycerides, it has to be declared on >the label. > >Wheat would be listed on thelabel of any Kraft Food that used it as a >carrier, Regan said. In fact, she said Kraft lists all gluten-containing >ingredients on its labels, including those used as incidental additives, >even if they are not among the eight most common allergens. That means >oats, barley or rye would also show up on the label if they were ever >used as an additive by Kraft. > >Meanwhile, General Mills does not use any carrier with mono and >diglycerides in its products, according to Kevin Farnum, director of >food safety. He said a carrier would be used to help mono and >diglycerides spread consistently in a food. General Mills uses a bead >form of mono and diglycerides that mixes easily and does not need a >carrier to work, Farnum said. All this would seem to indicate that >celiacs can remove mono and diglycerides from any suspicious or >questionable food lists and still feel safe. > > > _________________________________________________________________ Get tax tips, tools and access to IRS forms – all in one place at MSN Money! http://moneycentral.msn.com/tax/home.asp * Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *