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My original post follows.

I only received two replies plus one encouragement to summarize, and have still not received a reply to my follow-up with Tofurky. 

Tricia Thompson wrote:
>I am looking into this but a couple things come to mind initially...
> 
>1. Under the FDA's proposed rule for labeling of food as gluten free, wheat grain is included among the ingredients that can not be included in a gluten-free food regardless of the final gluten content (even if it is below 20 ppm).
>2. Shoyu sauce is a fermented product and can not be tested accurately using traditional methods--the competitive R5 ELISA should be used to test this product.
> 
>I have written to the company to ascertain what tests were run on their product. Testing is very complicated. If you think it would be helpful to consumers for me to try and explain why hydrolyzed and fermented products can not be accurately assessed using sandwich ELISAs, I will try.

and she did then post this link yesterday to her blog for a further explanation:
http://tinyurl.com/yb7f4fl
In this post, Tricia confirms what Bev wrote:
>The fermenation process snips the protein chains into small peptides that might not register on tests but could still cause problems for celiacs.  And since the ppm is based on gluten content / volume of product, you are correct to question the ppm of the soy sauce which could cause problems if that was the only ingredient.
>
>Obviously they are more concerned on selling product than on our safety...I wouldn't give them my vote of approval/$$...And because they also make products with wheat protein, there's also a risk the cross-contamination.
 

My original post:
Yesterday at our local food coop (Food Conspiracy Cooperative in Tucson, AZ), I
noticed they were carrying a new brand of tempeh, made by the folks who make the
Tofurky (a product which is predominantly wheat gluten and not on our diets.)

A couple of the seasoned tempeh varieties stated Gluten Free on the label, yet
the ingredients listed soy sauce made with wheat and wheat as an allergen, then
included this statement with an asterisk
"*Wheat used in fermentation of soy sauce but independent lab tests detect no
residual gluten."

I checked tofurky.com and their tempeh FAQ, then emailed for their gluten-free
statement and received this prompt reply:

"We have since taken that off our packaging because it was too confusing for
people, but here is the statement...
We have tested our tempeh products for gluten and they are 'gluten free'.
Wheat is used in the fermentation process to make shoyu soy sauce, however,
gluten is the protein portion of whole wheat and is insoluble in water. As
such it does not transfer into the shoyu soy sauce during the fermentation
process.
We have used two independent labs to test our tempeh products. The testing
criteria for gluten to be present is 10ppm. Both labs reported 'non
detectable' levels of gluten in Turtle Island Foods tempeh products. "

I thanked the writer for his reply and responded:

"So I understand correctly, is it correct to presume you removed the GF
reference and this explanation, both, from the labels?And I am curious if
Tofurky tested the shoyu soy sauce used, relied on the statements of the shoyu
maker, or only tested the final product after dilution with the tempeh
ingredients? "

My question for this list is about the scientific accuracy of this part of
Tofurky's reply:
"Wheat is used in the fermentation process to make shoyu soy sauce, however,
gluten is the protein portion of whole wheat and is insoluble in water."

Thanks

Jack

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