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Wow!  Thank you everyone!  I had almost 80 email responses today from my 
M&M post this morning.  What a big help.

I'm including some of the responses below.  But to summarize - most people 
(all but 2 or 3) said they had no problems with M&Ms - or if they did it was 
due to lactose intolerance or issues with nuts.

Silly Yak bakery wrote and said they use M&Ms in their cookies without 
problems.

I called the 800 number on the back of the M&Ms bag today.  I again listened 
to the GF food list and it noted that plain M&Ms are ok.  So, I pressed several 
keys to talk to a human.  She said that there are no gluten ingredients but 
there is a possibility of gluten contamination because they manufacture the 
product in the same facility as other products with wheat.  I didn't ask 
specifically if it was the same line or not - I forgot.  I asked her to ask for the 
automated message to be updated to indicate if manufacturing contamination 
is possible or not in all of their products that they say "do not contain gluten".

Here are a sampling of a few responses I received.  Again - thank you for the 
overwhelming support and response.  Celiac is frustrating at times and it is 
nice to have you all out there for help!!!!

We'll be taking a M&M break for awhile and see what happens...

Responses:

I've wondered about M&M Peanuts because it seemed like the only thing  
causing symptoms and even looked up how they were
made on the internet.  I have to conclude my body just doesn't like  
that much of them

I eat plain and peanut M & M's all the time, and I have never had a
 problem.

M&M's are very acidic--could that be the problem?

I have had probelms as well and just avoid them. Other candy the ia gf does 
not bother me.

I was actually wondeirng about m & m's and my son this morning.  He has had 
them a few times and each time he has had tummy aches afterward but i 
called the compnay and they verified it was gluten free.  i am about to take 
my son to the doctor tomorrow about his tummy issues  so PLEASE e-mail me 
back (today if you can???) .

I have a 12 year old celiac.  She was 3 when she was diagnosed.  I have to 
admit M&M's are a staple for us.  This is a great treat to bring when there will 
be gluten treats around that she cannot have.  Also I buy the big bags and 
then dole it out in smaller portions than the gas station or vending machine 
size bag.

I use M and Ms in my cookies often and have never seen any sign of gluten 
problems after eating them.  Two nights ago when there was no restaurant 
around that I could eat at I pigged down a small bag of them with no signs 
either 

We use M&M's in the GF Cookies at The Silly Yak Bakery (*).  Never been any 
reported problems. 
FYI & in a totally different incident ... One person told us they were Choco-
holics and bought regular chocolate bars from a grocery store; got sick.  He 
narrowed it down to the candy maker who denied it. He persisted. Then they 
found out the candy company had switched to "lubricating" the conveyor belt 
that fed the bagging machine by dusting it with, (yup, you guessed it), 
FLOUR. 
Anyhow, if you'd like to see the entire range of "Safe" GF M&M Cookies plus a 
whole bunch of other GF Goodies available for shipment, please go to: 
      www.sillyyakbakery.com/glutenfree.html 

M&M's have been my total downfall since being diagnosed with celiac in
 Feb!  I wish someone would tell me they did have gluten in them so I would
 Quit eating them!!!  The plain M&M's do not affect me though...Although the
 Peanut and peanut butter ones do...  I never even ate M&M's before! I had 
heard once that to work off eating one M&M - you would have to walk the 
length of a football field!  I better get walking!


Regards,
Laura

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