<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> At 01:09 AM 5/22/01 -0400, Debbie wrote: >Several noted that CSA is behind the times in disagreeing with this >statement. I feel I should say here that it's not just that CSA is behind the times, but to my knowledge it is the only remaining group that still maintains that distilled vinegar is not safe for most celiacs. All the chemists, scientists, celiac doctors and other celiac organizations that I have read insist that distilled vinegar and alcohol are both quite safe, *unless an individual has some problem with it. Certainly they are both likely to cause heartburn in many celiacs since vinegar is an acid (great for cleaning brass :) and alcohol is the worst about causing heart burn and chest pains because it relaxes the esophageal sphincter allowing acid to flow up the esophagus, then the sphincter spasms (like a cramp in your leg) and causes chest pains, especially at night or after exertion. So it's easy to see why Leon Rottman (late head of CSA) may have believed they were both bad for him. >Distilled alcohols and vinegars are not a problem because the gluten >molecule is heavy and cannot survive the distillation process. It's not so much that the gluten molecule is heavy, it's because it is a large Non-Volatile molecule, and as such will not rise in the steam as more volatile substances such as water, vinegar and alcohol do. Distillation has always been a method of purifying water and other volatile subtances by eliminating the non-volatile substances from them entirely. >Two more claimed to have problems with it and said "better to be safe >than sorry." That's a no-brainer! Gee, doc it hoits when I do dis. "Don't do dot." :) Any time something makes you sick it's not a bad idea to avoid that thing. But I realize that some will never be convinced of the saftey of vinegar and alcohol, and it will probably do them no harm, just cut down considerably on the few choices we have for food and be an inconvenience. But many of us who react to small amts of gluten do ingest distilled vinegar and alcohol with no GI problems whatsoever. But never ingest malt vinegar. -vance BTW, I'm now 67 years old, and "I have come to realize that I am a woman trapped in the body of a man." Do you think this might be due to celiac disease? :)