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Dear Listmates,
I'd like to add my 2 cents worth here. Five years ago when I was eating
Arrowhead's corn puff cereal as a dry snack while driving or at the movies,
it never occured to me to contact the company and ask if there really was
only corn in the product. I was naive enough to believe the printed
ingredients list: corn.  Also, I didn't have access to this list or e-mail.
Sure I'm older and wiser and definitely more cautious, but I am also angry
that no one in the local celiac group or the gastro doctor I saw ever
suggested that the reason I was having the identical symptoms to corn that
I also experienced with gluten was because I WAS ingesting gluten.

By the way, the reason the corn puffs come into contact with gluten during
production is unknown to Arrowhead because they don't actually produce the
product, they only package it. Arrowhead has advised the actual
manufacturer about the need to avoid contamination, but has not made it a
criteria of the manufacturing process.

I believe that we have to get it together and lobby as a cohesive group if
we ever want to have truthful package labelling mandatory by law.  The
world is smaller because of the internet which means we can be a powerful
voice no matter which country we live in. Ideally, if we could join with
other groups of people who need to know exactly what is in a food product
(which has to include all substances the product comes in contact with
during the entire production process), then we have a good chance of being
heard.

Here is an example of a product that also isn't truthfully labelled, that
may or may not affect celiacs. It is maple syrup. Apparently in the process
of boiling the sap either lard or cream is added to the mixture to calm the
bubbles. By omitting this information vegetarians and lactose intolerant
folks may be getting more than expected when pouring "pure" maple syrup on
their pancakes.

I am much more alert now to how I feel and have gotten quite good at being
a "detective"  when celiac symptoms appear. That's how I recently figured
out that I was reacting to a new soy drink called So Good. Even though the
protein has been extracted from the wheat starch (per European standards) I
reacted.

Thanks everyone for your time. Enough of my soapbox - have a great day & be
well!

Helen, Vancouver, BC