Rice Dream?

[sarahelizabeth]

I keep reading comments that Rice Dream has gluten in it... but there website claims its gluten free?? Can someone please clear this up for me?? I am confused!! Open Original Shared Link

[taweavmo3]

From what I can tell, under the new labeling laws, they are now allowed to claim it is gluten free because the amount of gluten in it (barley malt) is under 20ppm. It is still the same formula as before, with .002% barley malt, which many people seem to react to, including my daughter. Hope that helps clear up a bit of the confusion.

[shayesmom]

From what I can tell, under the new labeling laws, they are now allowed to claim it is gluten free because the amount of gluten in it (barley malt) is under 20ppm. It is still the same formula as before, with .002% barley malt, which many people seem to react to, including my daughter. Hope that helps clear up a bit of the confusion.

My daughter reacts to it as well. I find it less frustrating to just avoid the company entirely.

[home-based-mom]

For what it's worth, once the new labeling laws are finalized at 20 ppm, the shelves will be full of products such as Rice Dream that can legally claim they are gluten free but really are not. Every processed product you buy you will have to test out for yourself as to whether or not it is safe for you. Label reading with each subsequent purchase may or may not help as formulations (especially those dreaded "natural flavors") could change but not be required to be listed.

[taweavmo3]

For what it's worth, once the new labeling laws are finalized at 20 ppm, the shelves will be full of products such as Rice Dream that can legally claim they are gluten free but really are not. Every processed product you buy you will have to test out for yourself as to whether or not it is safe for you. Label reading with each subsequent purchase may or may not help as formulations (especially those dreaded "natural flavors") could change but not be required to be listed.

This is what really worries me. If my daughter has been 100% gluten free for months, with 0 cross contamination, I can tell when she is reacting to a new product. But, once she's had that exposure, her reactions last for so long that I won't be able to tell if she gets cross contaminated with another product during that time. This will make pinpointing the gluten product nearly impossible, especially if I can't even trust the products that are supposedly gluten free. If that makes any sense, lol. I feel safe buying products that are made in gluten free facilities that target the celiac and allergy customer (like Namaste, Enjoy Life, Kinnikinnick, etc). But any other product claiming to be gluten free, that makes regular products as well, I'll have to think twice about buying. I feel like the new labeling laws are going to cut down my mainstream options even more, rather than help matters. I don't know where the 20 ppm rule came from, but clearly it is still too much for some people. And if you have countless products claiming to be gluten free with 20 ppm, frequent exposure would still be enough to cause an auto immune response wouldn't it???

Okay, done ranting, lol. This whole 20 ppm thing just irritates me, since it makes the diet more complicated for us, and the only people it seems to help are the companies who can now slap a gluten free label on their product to attract more customers.

[sarahelizabeth]

Hmmmm... I am only using the rice milk for cooking but perhaps I still need to find another alternative. He drinks a specialized elemental formula for his "milk" but I still need something to make him pancakes or waffles. He doesn't eat those very often... actualy only Saturday mornings... but still.

Most of what he eats is naturally gluten-free... fruits and meats... but he does eat some prepackaged labeled gluten-free things. Most of them are Enjoy Life because of his other allergies... its hard to find gluten-free, milk free, soy free, and nut free things. So far we've had no problems with Enjoy Life... has any one else??

[Cheri A]

Where's the barfing icon for the 20 ppm? That just makes me mad, too!

Sarah, we haven't had any problems with Enjoy Life stuff, other than the price tag. I buy the chocolate chips a lot, but I usually make cookies and bars from scratch now.

As to the milk, my daughter has a lot of the same allergies. Have you tried Vance's Dari-Free yet? It is a potato-based, sort of sweet milk. I use it in my bread recipe, hot chocolate, etc. It is sweet, so it's not good for savory recipes. I make a roux with chicken stock for savory flavors.