Tabatchnick Soups

[jjc]

I contacted Tabatchnick by phone yesterday to find out if any of their frozen soups were gluten free, and they gave me a few types to try. However, when I was in the store trying to purchase them, I noticed that a lot of the ones they had mentioned had modified food starch on the label.

I then e-mailed the company and asked specifically about the modified food starch, but my response was an e-mail that just had the following list attached. I thought I had made myself clear in my e-mail, so may the modified food starch is nothing to worry about? Wouldn't they have told me if it was?

Does anyone eat their soups and do okay on them? THANKS!!

GLUTEN FREE SOUPS

CREAMED SPINACH

VEGETARIAN CHILI

NEW ENGLAND POT

CORN CHOWDER

CR OF MUSHROOM

WILD RICE

TOMATO RICE

BROCCOLI CHEESE

SOUTHWEST BEAN

BLACK BEAN

ROCK ISLAND

SALMON CHOWDER

CR OF SPINACH

CR OF BROCCOLI

POTATO

PEA

CABBAGE

YANKEE BEAN

LENTIL

PEA NS

[psawyer]

Modified food starch can refer to any starch which has been partially broken down ("modified"). The modification does not add any protein, so if the original starch was not from a gluten-containing grain, then the modified starch does not contain gluten.

It is usually corn starch. In the US, by law, if it is wheat starch then the word "wheat" must appear on the label.

If the manufacturer of the product has said that it does not contain gluten, then I would consider it safe.

"Modified food starch" is one of many ingredients that may or may not contain gluten. You need to check with the maker, or know that their policy. A number of companies have a policy that they will clearly disclose gluten ingredients:

Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Zatarain's.

Not all products by these companies are gluten-free, but you can read their labels and know.

[gfp]

Not all products by these companies are gluten-free, but you can read their labels and know.

One also has to be aware of the difference in:

Tips about Common Ingredients:

* Food Starch and Modified Food Starch: When listed in the ingredient statement of Kraft products, "food starch" and "modified food starch" often refer to corn starch. Our ingredient suppliers assure us that the corn starch we use in our products does not contain gluten. If a Kraft product uses food starches from a gluten-containing source, such as wheat starch, the source will always be identified in the ingredient statement.

* HVP (Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein): If a Kraft product uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein, the source will always be identified in the ingredient statement.

* Mustard/Mustard Flour: This ingredient does not contain gluten.

* Vinegar: When listed in the ingredient statement of Kraft products, distilled vinegar is used. According to our ingredient suppliers, the distilled vinegar we use does not contain gluten.

and

Our products are tested to make sure they do not contain gluten.

Whereby it is a great step forwards to list the sources... and that they do deserve recognition for this they are making a deliberate legal disclaimer here. They are in no way claiming the prducts are gluten-free, they are simply saying their suppliers say they are gluten-free.

They do not say where their suppliers are based....

Personally, I could do with a few $$$, If Kraft want I'll set up an office in Mexico and buy US corn starch and supply it to Kraft with said guarantee. I won't test it, why bother ??? Indeed I will take the corn starch they don't buy because it is not gluten-free, I will then just give an assurance it is and sell it with a guarantee. I'll just add $5 a ton....

I'm not saying this is where Kraft get their corn starch .... BUT there is nothing ion thier statement says not!

What I would say is that the specific lack of any statement by Kraft of the source of their starch and/or ANY QC testing by themselves is suspicious.

Many US 'businesses' ALSO buy a different white powder from Mexico (or Columbia)... I very much doubt they accept a purity guarantee at face value! Nope, they have a chemist on hand to sample some of the product on every delivery....

A more legit example: is buying and selling crude.... (something I do know about)....

When companies sell crude it is sold at a standard... YET every single shipment is sampled and tested....

So this white powder that Kraft buy by the ton.... incredible they don't actually test it ??