<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi all, Though perhaps not of interest for those on the other (left side? of the pond). I wrote down some thoughts about the three main sources of food celiacs use. I will deal with them in three separate postings. - Foods labeled as "gluten free", with or without GF symbol. - Foods from a gluten free shopping list - Foods which do not fall within the above categories With respect to the second category: There is a lot of controversy regarding the use of databases vs. more adequate labeling in dealing with allergies and so on. Though many patients societies opt for more adequate labeling, for the time being an allergy database seems to be a nice compromise. There are however a number of drawbacks which I should like to deal with explaining the Dutch situation. Data for our gluten free shopping list are collected by our national allergy database ALBA which is subsidized by the Dutch Government. Food producers are asked to send in detailed data regarding the composition of their food products with respect to many known allergens, gluten included, and these data are compiled and published periodically (a one year base) by our national information center on food hypersensitivity's (LIVO). These data even can be "personalized, i.e. several list may be combined into one list 'tailored" to the needs of the allergy patient. A drawbacks is that there is only one issue a year, and by consequence in-between changes in food composition will not be available until a year later. A further (and major) problem which limits the value of these lists is that participation in the system is on a voluntary basis. So the list only comprises a selection of all foods available. The most serious problem is however that nobody knows about the fidelity of these lists. If a regulatory food control agency would plan to check these lists for trueness and eventually would try to bring a suit against a producer for inadvertently having put his foods on the list, the list would probably evaporate. Producers fear to be sued for product liability. So this all is a very fragile business and may be regarded as a certain kind of service from the producers to some consumers (and celiacs). There is not much sales volume to gain for them as the number of celiacs is low. Unless the system can be made compulsory, there will always remain doubts about the level of confidence one can have in these lists. Frederik Willem Janssen, Zutphen, The Netherlands