<<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