<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Let's make a change.. I am getting a lot of angry mail messages lately from people griping about one food manufacturer or another, some type of product or another. It seems there are a lot of people out there with too much time on their hands and soap boxes ten feet tall. I don't mean to offend anyone, but celiacs griping to celiacs is kind of like the tree falling in the forest (does anyone hear it fall?). There are a lot of great ideas and a lot of very intelligent people out there (you've got to be half-way smart just to post one of these things, right?). How about we stop sitting around and really get on the move to make some change? I think most would agree that celiacs are not trying to change the way manufacturers are producing food, only that they (celiacs) don't have to continually call the manufacturers asking if food is 100% gluten free. The most frustrating part of being a celiac is not that you don't get to eat any good food, it's that you see something in the store that looks interesting, read the ingredients (all look safe), take it home and eat it. When you get sick, you get suspicious, call the manufacturer and find out there is some type of cross contamination, etc. It takes a full time job just to see if what you can eat, you can eat. I agree with the statements that lawsuits will not help, only drive the price of food up and make the manufacturers less cooperative with the needs of people with food allergies. I don't think that boycotts will help. The small number of people with food allerigies is not enough to drive the corporations to change (obviously, or they would have already changed). I think the most wonderful soulution would be labeling to signify EXACTALY what a product is made of. How nice it would be to go to the store, pick up a product, flip over and read the label and make your decision. I know that someone has made the point that the manufacturers will simply stamp "May Contain Gluten" on everything and be done with it. But that's ok, too. It beats having to call the manufacturer and have them tell you the same thing straight to your face. At least you've saved the time as well as the money not purchasing the product in the first place. Hey, maybe if sales of the product decrease, they will change the way they manufacture the product. Why don't we band together with people of other allergies and make a compassionate plea to the FDA and lawmakers to change what we read. One idea I read about is an 'Allergy Bar' that is added to the current Nutrition Facts label required on products. This would be an area located somewhere on the label with certain letters or symbols, etc. that denote the major food allergies. For example S=3Dsoy, W=3Dwheat/gluten, P=3Dpeanuts, D=3Ddairy(lactose), C=3Dcorn, etc., for all of the major food allergies (major being those allergies that can withstand proper support, I think we all realize that there is someone in the world allergic to everything). We have to get to the heart of the FDA and lawmakers and get a compassonite ear. If we just hound them like crazy people, they will simply treat us like hypocondriactics. For many, the diagnosis of a food allergy is new. Think of how you would have felt just a few months ago if someone with an allergy came to you. Most, I dare say, would not have given a thought to that person's needs. So let's use this service to make change. Let's share ideas and make a difference. Let's try to make life EASIER FOR OURSELVES. Please do not flood me with responses agreeing or disagreeing with the above comments. That only wastes my time and yours. If you have any more ideas, please write. If you think your ideas are great, by all means post them to everyone so we all can share. We need some labeling ideas, some names, some contacts, some addresses and some telephone numbers. Remember NO aggressive letters or harrassing phone calls to these poeple. We want their help. Mitchel Laman [log in to unmask]