<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> In her recent letter on the Gluten content of Rice dream, Katie Bretsch said. "How can they say there is an increased risk of lymphoma (presumably from chronic challenge to the immune system) and also say there is a "safe" level of exposure? I personally consider this illogical and don't plan to risk my health on it." Katie should realize that the studies which have shown that the gluten free diet reduces our risk of lymphoma were done in European countries where bread made from wheat starch is allowed on a gluten free diet. The people studied, who are on diets that typically contain up to 40 mg per day of wheat gluten, did not show a higher incidence of lymphoma than the general population. While there is good reason to believe that ingesting large amount of gluten increases our cancer risk, there is no reason to believe that trace amounts of gluten are harmful to our long term health. Almost all toxins have some threshold level, below which no harm can be observed. Some compounds (like vitamin A) are poisonous in large amounts but actually beneficial in small amounts. Before you all get upset, I'm not suggesting that trace amounts of gluten are beneficial to celiacs. I'm simply pointing out that suggesting that there is a "safe" level of exposure is consistant with the scientific understanding of the actions of most toxins and is completely logical. If gluten causes lymphoma because of the chronic challenge to our immune systems, there is every reason to believe that there is a safe level. Gluten is not that only thing that challenges our immune systems. Everyones immune system is constantly being challenged by all types of bacterial and viral pathogens and most people are able to handle those challenges. It is logical to suspect that below some threshold level, gluten becomes only a small fraction of the things our immune system handles every day and should not significantly influence the health of our immune systems. If there is not a safe level of gluten in our diets, why do we even try? It is well recognized that a 100% gluten free diet is impossible in our wheat filled world. Are we all doomed to short lives and get cancers because of occasional hidden glutens? I don't think so. The best available scientific data suggest that celiacs will not suffer any long term health effects from drinking Rice Dream. Use common sense. If Rice Dream makes you sick, don't drink eat. But if you don't get sick when you drink it, there is no scientific reason to suspect that you are endangering your health. Bonnie J. Tyler Bozeman, MT P.S. I would also like to emphasize that the letter from Rice Dream states that 5 mg of barley protein/glass was an upper limit on the amount of barley protein that could be present in Rice Dream. It is not the amount that has been measured in Rice Dream and based on their explanation it is likely that the actual amount is much lower.