<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Thanks for bearing with my ignorance, as I'm new to all this GF stuff! And thanks for all your replies. The consensus seems to be that although theoretically the germ could be GF, since gluten occurs only in the endosperm, in actuality it probably isn't because of cross-contamination. Several people reported reactions to wheat germ. Carma in Phoenix [log in to unmask] -------------- THE QUESTION: -------------- I read recently that wheat germ is gluten-free. Anybody know anything about this? I believe it was in Jane Kinderlehrer's SMART COOKIES or SMART MUFFINS. (Kinderlehrer is a past food editor for PREVENTION magazine.) -------------- -------------- THE RESPONSES: -------------- ["Donald D. Kasarda" <[log in to unmask]> wrote in Aug. 1996, advising celiacs not to use wheat germ] -------------- Even if it is, what odds do you give that is has not been contaminated. I wouldn't let my wife touch anything like that - I don't trust the food industry to care enough. -------------- I don't see how it can be if it comes from wheat and from the center of the wheat. Man, people on this list are frightened by vinegar and alcohol which are distilled- I can't think that anything coming directly from wheat can be gluten free. -------------- I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. I figure, even if it is gluten free in theory, which I doubt, the chances of cross-contamination are so great that I wouldn't even consider it. -------------- Where did you hear that? That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Unless some miracle of science has occurred, wheat germ is definitely not GF. -------------- just to let you know, eating wheat germ in an otherwise gf fruit smoothie put me in the hospital with dehydration. talk about a reaction!!! -------------- You have been given misinformation. Wheat germ is not gluten free. Any good encyclopedia will provide you with accurate information on this point. Then there is the issue of cross contamination.... -------------- About five months before even hearing the word "Celiac" for the first time, I was feeling so draggy I followed a friend's advice and added wheat germ to my morning cereal (shredded wheat, probably!). Within a few days I had itchy, blistery bumps in many difficult of places - more itchy than anything I had ever experienced. For some crazy reason I figured out that perhaps the wheat germ had brought on the bumps ((DH)), and removed it from my diet. Eventually the itching stopped and the bumps diminished, but it took many, many weeks before the residual red scars were gone. I wouldn't even THINK of touching anything distantly related to wheat germ again. --------------