What is Gluten?

                  You may be asking yourself...."What exactly is Gluten? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Part of the Gluten family consists of the following:  bulgur, farro, kamut, spelt, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), couscous, dinkle, durum, einkorn, emmer, Farina®, fu, graham, seitan & semolina. Almost any product made from flour has wheat flour as a base.  Other common wheat products include wheat berry, wheat germ, wheat germ oil, wheat grass (also called triga), wheat gluten, wheat nut and wheat starch. Common ingredients and additives made from wheat include edible starch, food starch and glue. 
                  Obvious examples include breads, cakes, cookies, bagels, crackers, pasta and many cereals. Wheat flours and starches are also excellent thickeners and binders and are often found in sauces (including soy sauce), gravies, soups, cornbread mixes, dairy products like sour cream, cottage cheese and yogurt, and processed meats like sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats and broth injected poultry. 
                        Another important part to gluten free living is ALWAYS READ YOUR LABELS when grocery shopping. There are possible sources for gluten indicated on the food label but you may not realize it. Here is a list of some of the tricky verbiage on those ingredient labels:

• Modified food starch—can be made from corn, tapioca, potato, WHEAT or other sources. Corn is almost always the source in North America with potato and rice occasionally used. 
• Caramel color—can be made from BARLEY or WBRO grain products, but is usually made from coal by- products
• Dextrin—can be made from WHEAT. 
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein/hydrolyzed plant protein/textured vegetable protein—could contain protein obtained from wheat. Most is made from soy, corn or peanut and label will specify. 
• Maltodextrin/Malt Sugar/Maltose- can be made from wheat starch. 
• Monosodium Glutamate/MSG/Adjinomoto
• Natural Flavoring
• Vegetable Gum
• Cereal Protien
• Edible Starch/Gelantinized Starch/Food Starch
• Meat products containing "rusk"

As I find more information through the research I am doing, I will make it available. Please remember to read your labels! It could mean all the difference in your child's well-being.