<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote: C> Also -- my CD daughter called a company about their carmel popcorn. C> They told her that popcorn "naturally contains gluten". She has C> been eating popcorn for years with no apparent problem. Can anyone C> shed light on this one?? To which Lisa McKinney <[log in to unmask]> replied: L> Regarding corn containing gluten, it is my layperson understanding L> that it does contain a naturally occurring gluten, but it is my L> understanding and belief (upon instruction from a dietitian) that L> corn gluten is okay for celiacs. It's the gluten in wheat, rye, L> oats, barley and possibly some other miscellaneous grains that L> are harmful to celiacs. I guess I'll add my double penny's worth too. The basic problems is that the expression "gluten-free" does not correctly describe the celiac diet. Over the years it has come to mean and be accepted as the descriptive term for a celiac diet, but it is not really correct. Why? Because of what Lisa has pointed out: gluten occurs in corn and probably in other grains which are safe for celiacs. So if "gluten-free" is not correct, what is the correct description of a celiac's diet? In recent years the expression "gluten-restricted, gliadin-free" has come into favor, but that really isn't correct either. For one thing, if you eat a lot of corn then your diet is not "gluten-restricted". The other problem with this expression is that "gliadin" refers specifically to wheat, and does not refer to barley, rye, and oats. The following quote comes from a summary of a talk by Dr. Martin Kagnoff, at the CSA/USA conference held in San Francisco this fall. This comes from the Dec. 1995 issue of _The Sprue-nik Press_: K> When we talk about a gluten-free (GF) diet, what we are really K> talking about are these alcohol-soluble proteins, which are K> named as follows: K> K> Grain Proteins K> ----- -------- K> wheat gliadins K> barley hordeins K> rye secalins K> oats avenins So a more descriptive expression for our diet would be "gliadin-, hordein-, secalin-, and avenin-free". This doesn't have a magical ring to it, does it? I suppose we could make an acronym out of the four proteins, and call our diet SHAG-Free or GASH-Free, but these expressions don't really catch my fancy either. Most of the bigger manufacturers have become familiar with the term "gluten-free", so it is probably best to keep using it. I think that when you speak or write to companies, you should specifically list the four main grains to avoid (wheat, barley, rye, and oats) as a way of explaining what you mean by gluten-free. By the way, all of the above (except for Dr. Kagnoff's quote) comes from a layman, so take it with a grain (er, particle) of salt. Jim Lyles ........ <[log in to unmask]> ........ Holly, Michigan, USA