Okay, Once And For All....

[Sweetfudge]

I'm so confused! I've just avoided anything that says caramel anything in it...but I've heard both positive and negative answers. So is it safe? If you have read somewhere, could you please link the source? Thanks so much!

[happygirl]

Sweetfudge,

As a result of the 2006 Food Labeling Law (America), food that has any of the 8 main allergens in it, including wheat, must be disclosed.

Caramel color, although rarely, can apparently be made with wheat. Unless it states that it has wheat in it, and lists wheat as an allergen (It would say, "CONTAINS: WHEAT" below the list of ingredients), it won't have wheat. According to FDA standards, it technically could have malt in it.

However, I would say that anything that I have checked on (and I'm extremely sensitive), has NOT had gluten in the caramel coloring. Coke and Pepsis etc are gluten free.

on celiac.com, it says about caramel color:

If this ingredient is made in North America it is likely to be gluten-free.

The problem with caramel color is it may or may not contain gluten depending on how it is manufactured. In the USA caramel color must conform with the FDA standard of identity from 21CFR CH.1. This statute says: "the color additive caramel is the dark-brown liquid or solid material resulting from the carefully controlled heat treatment of the following food-grade carbohydrates: Dextrose (corn sugar), invert sugar, lactose (milk sugar), malt syrup (usually from barley malt), molasses (from cane), starch hydrolysates and fractions thereof (can include wheat), sucrose (cane or beet)." Also, acids, alkalis and salts are listed as additives which may be employed to assist the caramelization process.

Dr. Green has a great, thorough list of ingredients and explanations. I'll look it up and post later for you.

[SpikeMoore]

Hi

On the caramel thing. I work in an office and we got a box of fruit jelly candies from one of our suppliers for Christmas. We opened them when we got back to work and I scarffed down about 6 Wednesday. Wednesday at 1 am I woke up with the old familiar stomach discomfort had had to take some pepto. I went into work Thursday and read the box. They were from Europe and one of the ingredients was caramel and at the end of the ingred. list, it said may contain gluten. I suspect it did.

[zansu]

there is a difference between caramel coloring and caramel.

Caramel is browned and melted sugar with butter and milk (although they add all sorts of chemicals just to be fun ) and it MAY be processed using flour (or cornstarch) to keep it from sticking to stuff. Caramel coloring (named because it's brown like caramel and sounds better than "brown coloring") is what HappyGirl was describing. I worry about caramel coloring from unknown sources because of the _barley_ (which does not have to be labeled)

[Sweetfudge]

Right! I want to know about carmel color thx!

[SpikeMoore]

You're right. I'll check at work on Monday and get back to you. I cannot recall if it was caramel or caramel colouring. But the box did say may contain gluten and I didn't see any other ingredients that were suspicious.

[SpikeMoore]

Just a follow up, the box was gone when I returned to work, the janitor had been in, so I won't know if it was the caramel or caramel colour.