New Article-chicago Tribune

[Lisa]

Gluten Article:

"Do not use fat or far-free sour cream to top Taco Quesadillas. They often contain MALTODEXTRIN and/or modified food starch."

Do they know what they are taking about, probly no???

Well, I guess it's good publicity. Any publicity is good.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Lisa,

Where is the article?

[tarnalberry]

Gluten Article:

"Do not use fat or far-free sour cream to top Taco Quesadillas. They often contain MALTODEXTRIN and/or modified food starch."

Do they know what they are taking about, probly no???

Well, I guess it's good publicity. Any publicity is good.

They're talking about the fact that products modified to be lower in fat often have those two ingredients to help retain the appropriate texture, and those two ingredients *can* be made from wheat. They aren't always - or even all that often - but often enough that you need to check on them. (Unless it's one of the companies that has a policy of labeling gluten containing ingredients, like Kraft.)

[teebs in WV]

I was very sure that I had checked 'maltodextrin' before and thought that it was safe. I just googled it and from what I can see, it is made from 100% corn starch.

But now, I am wondering - does it depend on the manufacturer?

[Lisa]

We subscribe to the Virgina Pilot, out of Norfolk, VA - the article is by Janet Helm, Chicago Tribune. It was a newspaper article and I don't know how to get it to you, Heading is "Allergy warning doesn't spell it all out".

I always thought that Malt is bad, but Maltodextrin was ok? If I am wrong, I have been screwing up for a very long time.

[Nancym]

According to the safe/forbidden list on Celiac.com its ok if it is manufactured in the US, it is always made from corn. In Europe, it might be made from wheat.

[psawyer]

In Canada and the US, maltodextrin is corn unless explicitly stated as something else. Modified food starch is usually corn, but you need to ask. Under the new US labelling rules, if it is wheat it must say so, but that does not rule out other gluten sources (although I have never seen a case of rye, barley or oat as starch).

On a related note, maltose is a sugar, and is not a gluen source, even though its name starts with "malt."