<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> This was a large subject to tackle, and I probably won't be able to do it as much justice as it deserves. The original post has some information in it regarding the processing of soy sauce. That information still stands. Also, I'd like to pass along the following post from Don Wiss regarding recent research in the archives he conducted regarding soy sauces. ***** I recently posted a list of GF soy sauces that I gleaned from this list's archives. I received the following comment on Eden's imported wheat-free tamari: Just a comment on this listing. The referenced soy sauce is made with "koji- innoculated" soybeans. Koji is malted barley. The ingredients appear to be gluten free, but if you read on the side of the bottle on how it is made, I don't see how it can be gluten free. I figured this out after reacting to eating it. Now I didn't remember anything about koji. So I searched the archives for the word. I found 17 matches. One specifically referred to the Eden tamari: Eden Foods 1-800-838-2326. I learned that all of Eden's products with koji as an ingredient are rice-based according to Eden rep Cindy Eicholtz. She wants all you food chemists to know she's talking about aspergillus oryzae, a culture grown on rice. But sometimes it seems it can be from barley. Some other archive findings: Koji is a fungus. I believe the genus is aspergillus. Koji is defined in macrobiotic cookbook glossaries as a grain/seed inoculated by a bacteria. There doesn't seem to be any guarantee that the grain used is always rice. Besides sake, koji is used in making other fermented foods: tamari soy sauce, miso (a paste), amasake (a sweet drink) KOJI--A grain inoculated with bacteria and used in making fermented foods such as miso, tamari soy sauce, amasake, natto, and sake. Please notice that not all koji is necessarily made from rice, but it seems that Maria-Louisa's is a rice product. Koji--can contain barley because it comes from Miso Westbrae Natural ingredients. They are as follows: whole soybeans 57%, water 28%, sea salt 12%, marin (cultured rice) 2%, koji (cultured barley) 1%. As for Amazake, it may be gluten-free but we haven't been able to determine that conclusively. We use an ingredient called koji which is a cultured rice that comes from Japan. Our source for it, Miyako Oriental Foods in Brea, California, has not been able to tell us whether there are any other grains used in the processing besides rice. ******** This website was also given as a food industry specific Usenet group that may be useful to some: It is at sci.bio.food-science ******** Tamari is essentially fermented soy sauce. The lists of available tamari and soy sauces have already been listed elsewhere in the archives. I would like to add that I did call Bragg's to check on thier liquid aminos, since I heard it was essentially soy sauce. It is, and it is definately also wheat and gluten free. Tofu is mashed soybeans and water to which a coagulant has been added and the thickened *stuff* is what remains and is sold. What I could come up with was somewhat limited, so far. My old Joy of Cooking said to use calcium (or was it potassium) chloride and vinegar. I suspect it is still possible that some mfgs. may use vinegar, however, it appears that most currently use chemical coagulants which would are more likely be gluten free than not. It is always best to call individual manufacturers. I did call Mori Nu and spoke with Linda, and theirs is definately gluten free. Shoyu usually has wheat. Miso is fermented, with Koji as the starter. As I mentioned previously, most of the time koji (a culture) is aspergillus on barley, sometimes aspergillus on brown rice. This culture is then applied to another product to ferment it (like brown rice vinegar). Any product containing koji should have the source of the koji culture checked out before determining it's gf status. Most fermented products are the result of biologic activity of a microorganism. Such microorganisms can include bacteria, but are often of the fungi family. They are used in many foodstuffs, including cheeses, vinegars and wines, as well as soybeans. Since fermented products result from such cultures, it is always a good idea to know the organism and what it feeds upon as a means of helping identify possible gluten introduction in the manufacturing process. As mentioned above, Eden makes a brown rice vinegar, as well as tamari, and all of their koji products are gf, because thier koji culture is from rice. I called to confirm this. I also checked with Thai Kitchens, and although thier vinegars are rice vinegars, the koji comes from a supplier in Bankok, and they cannot confirm the grain used in the koji culture at this time. IN SUMMARY: It would be wise to check out *any* fermented product containing soybeans or koji, and probably other cultures, as well. The base for the microoganism will depend upon what the organism needs to eat. Joanne