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>Can someone comment on quinoa?  I see it included in the lists of foods to
>avoid, yet my son's allergist says it's ok, a relative of corn.  Help!
>
>Barbara Crooker

Don Kasarda has written in the Celiac Disease Foundation newsletter that
quinoa is so distantly related to wheat that it should pose no problems.  I
recall him adding that if quinoa were a problem, rhubarb would also be.  Dr.
Kasarda is a member of this list, and may wish to add more.

CSA/USA which is one of the Celiac groups in the US, advises their members to
avoid quinoa.  This has proven very frustrating for the company which imports
quinoa into America, whose President I have spoke with.  He has shown them
Kasarda's paper, and other material which he feels establishes quinoa's
saftey, to no avail. CSA/USA states that a significant minority of their
members report a reaction to quinoa.

A number of other celiac groups, including CDF, state that quinoa should be
safe.  This is one example of where celiacs have to read what the "experts"
say and make up their own mind.

At the health food store, there are many products with quinoa on the label in
which it is actually a minor ingredient, and the main ingredient is wheat.
This makes me wonder if some celiacs reporting to CSA/USA bought a quinoa
cereal without fully reading the label, and then had a gluten reaction.
There is always the possibility of cross-contamination during the manufacture
of the quinoa, but the president of Quinoa Corp (as I think it is called)
assured me that the equipment is thoroughly cleaned before processing and the
first 100 pounds of product is discarded.  This is the same procedure which
other mills use when preparing rice flour in equipment which previously
processed wheat flour.