<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Dear Listmates, I received only a handful of answers to my question about maltodextrin in Australia a week ago. he consensus seems to be that it is a dodgy ingredient and probably contains gluten so we should avoid it. Here are the answers I got: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know what regulations apply to maltodextrin here in Oz (we're in Syd), but I do know that the maltodextrin used in Kelloggs cereals is not gf - we experimented on the gastro's advice after being gf for a year (he thought because the gluten was "residual" we might be able to tolerate it). But - it made us as sick as dogs .. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In answer to your question, matodextrin is made from Barley - not wheat, and is never made from corn. It is not allowed on a gluten free diet at any time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Coeliac Society's ingredient list booklet (1998) lists maltodextrin as dodgy, may contain residual gluten. As they say "When in doubt leave it out". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think this is up to the individual producer. My advice would be to avoid it unless the particular manufacturer specifies gluten free. The Coeliac Society of Australia lists it as "may contain residual gluten" in their ingredients book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The short answer to your question is that maltodextrin can be made from both corn and wheat and the Australian regulations for foods and drugs don't specify one or the other. So, unfortunately you have to ring manufacturers for individual products and ask which it is. The long answer: Foods are covered by the Australian Food Standards Code which is written and controlled by ANZFA (The Australia New Zealand Food Authority, tel. 02 6271 2222). These regulations define maltodextrin as "a dried mixture of dextrins, oligosaccharides and reducing sugars obtained from partial hydrolysis of starch". The starch is most often wheat or corn derived. The Code allows maltodextrin as a carrier substance for flavouring agents, as a base for artificial sweeteners and as an ingredient in uncooked fermented manufactured meats, so you can see that its potentially in a lot of foods and "maltodextrin" may not appear on the label if its part of another ingredient. That's why a lot of coeliacs ask about a product if they see flavours or sweeteners mentioned on food labels. The regulations for drugs ("drugs" = prescription medicines, over the counter medicines and "complementary" medicines, ie. herbals, vitamins, minerals, homeopathics) are covered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (tel 02 6232 8444). Maltodextrin is allowed in drugs as an excipient (ie. a manufacturing aid). You'd be surprised at how many drugs contain maltodextrin. It is used a lot as a carrier substance for herbal preparations and it also helps when processing tablets. Once again, it can be either corn or wheat derived. Where you will see a difference with the foods is in the labelling regulations. The current rules (these are being reviewed at the moment) are: 1. The product label must say "Contains maltodextrin" if the TOTAL amount of maltodextrin AND other sugars (eg. fructose, glucose, galactose) a person would be taking a day if they followed the dosage instructions is more than 50mg. 2. Currently, if the product contains gluten this must be shown on the label (see the exceptions in 3 & 4). 3. However (you knew there was going to be a "but" ;-]) if the gluten is present in a "proprietary ingredient" (ie. a top secret formular flavour or colour) then you don't have to put it on the label because "it may only be present in a minute amount". 4. Also, if gluten is present as part of an ingredient like wheat starch, then you only have to put it on the label if it does not comply with the definition of "gluten-free". "Gluten- free" means that the nitrogen content does not exceed 0.05% that is, there is less than 0.3g protein per 100g of the drug. This is based on the ruling for "gluten-free" set out by the National Health and Medical Research Council. The gluten labelling rules for drugs are under review and I would not be surprised if they change a lot. So, I guess its back to asking manufacturers!