<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

In my widely distributed update on our GF Restaurant Guide, I recommended
that diners bring their own Chun King or San-J brands wheat-free tamari or
soy sauce to certain Chinese restaurants.

I received a rather curt e-mail response to that suggestion. The note flatly
informed me that the sender's Celiac support group had been told that Chun
King Soy Sauce is NOT gluten free. The note gave no verifying information and
no phone number for the manufacturer. In fact it didn't even identify the
support group.


This is a typical example of something we need to guard against in our
vulnerable community -- recklessly passing on unsubstantiated negative rumors
and fear about a product a lot of us use regularly.

Although many good folks on this list and elsewhere had previously listed
Chun King as safe, I don't want to be suggesting an unsafe product for my
fellow Celiacs in our San Francisco Bay Area Restaurant Guide. Thus this note
forced me to track down and check today (5/14/97) with the manufacturers of
Chun King, Hunt-Wesson Foods in Fullerton, California (714-680-1000) to see
if anything had changed there. Kyle in Consumer Communications assured me
that Chun King contains no wheat and no derivative of gluten-containing
grains, and is in fact gluten-free. Now I'm not going to do an independent
chemical analysis of the product, so I don't guarantee anything, but
personally I've decided in this case to trust what the company says.

Let's promise each other that we'll try to avoid scaring people unnecessarily
and forcing them to re-do time-consuming and expensive investigations.
Passing on unsubstantiated rumors about foods we've long relied on is like
passing on false and harmful gossip.

When you hear such a rumor about a food most of us use and assume to be safe,
ask whether the person contacted the company directly. If so, what phone
number did they use, when did they make the call, and what information did
they receive? If you don't have those answers, then find out the truth before
you tell people the product is unsafe.

Let's not spread unnecessary fear. We all have too much of that in our lives
already.

Thanks for letting me say my piece. I feel better now! Today I'm going to
check out yet another potential entry for our GF Restaurant Guide. Maybe I'll
bring along some Chun King Soy Sauce.

Good eating to all,
-jg