Gluten-free Fiber Supplement

[ellen123]

I know there are other places on this site that talk about fiber supplements, so today I went looking for one. After rejecting Metameucil powder (it's supposed to be fine, but it has yellow food dye which seems unnecessary so I don't want that), I read the label for BeneFil (I think that's the name). The label said: "Ingredient: wheat dextrin" and then immediately under that, it said "Gluten-free: less than 10 ppm gluten". I assume 10 ppm means "parts per million" and if so, only 10 sounds reassuring, but seriously -- after reading all this information about cross-contamination, burning the seasoning off cast-iron pans and using separate toasters, I can't believe it's OK to drink a fiber supplement drink every day that is made from wheat dextrin. Also, since that's the ONLY ingredient listed, how can there be only 10 ppm of gluten?

Any dextrin experts out there?

[MyMississippi]

Not a dextrin expert----- but I know that you can buy pure psyllisum (sp?) with no sugar, dyes, etc. from the healthfood stores. It's the same as Metamucil -but without the added crud.

[Franceen]

I use Citrucel (sp?) - actually the generic if I can find. I take the caplets - but it is available as powder and "soft chews" - I don't know ingredients of the chews and powder. They are all supposedly 100% methycellulose - at least the caplets are. And therefore it is gluten free. And there is no gas as a side effect.

Not from a grain.

Works well.

[ellen123]

Well, I may be able to answer my own question here about whether 10 ppm of gluten from wheat is sufficient to call something "gluten free." While on this site I noticed an ad for Norwegian imported celiac-safe baking mixes, and when I clicked on it, I came to a page that said their ingredients have only 20 ppm of gluten, which they state meets European standards for a gluten-free product. I still don't know what those who are extremely careful and hypersensitive would say, but apparently it is OK to label something gluten free if it has only a trace of gluten.

[cruelshoes]

I can't believe it's OK to drink a fiber supplement drink every day that is made from wheat dextrin. Also, since that's the ONLY ingredient listed, how can there be only 10 ppm of gluten?

Any dextrin experts out there?

I am not a dextrin expert, nor do I play one on TV. Here is some information that may be of help to you. This explains how it could contain 10PPM and still be made completely from wheat dextrin:

Open Original Shared Link

As gluten-containing grains are processed, more and more of the gluten is removed from them, as shown in this simple processing flow:

Wheat Flour (80,000ppm) > Wheat Starch (200ppm) > Dextrin > Maltodextrin > Glucose Syrup (<5ppm) > Dextrose > Caramel Color

It's like making an angel food cake. You crack the eggs and remove the yolks. The resulting mixture is still 100% egg, but the yolk parts-per-million (PPM) has gone down dramatically.

Unfortunately, in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet defined the term gluten free as it appears on food labels. This means that there is no set rule when you see the term on a food label. It could mean no detectable gluten, but it could be a whole lot. There is supposed to be a ruling coming out in August that tells what 'Gluten Free" really means in the US.

Here is what the Open Original Shared Linksays:

Does the new ingredient, Wheat Dextrin, have any ill effects on people who experience wheat allergies or wheat intolerance?

Benefiber

[gbuz67]

I use this one:

Open Original Shared Link

She has great products and fiber supp. states gluten free

hope this helps...

-grace