Higgins & Burke Gourmet White Hot Chocolate

[JillianLindsay]

Hello all,

(Sorry for the double post.)

Does anyone know if Higgins & Burke (made by Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc.) "gourmet" WHITE hot chocolate is gluten-free? I can't find any information on their website or anywhere online using a google search. There is nothing in the ingredients obviously stating wheat or other gluten products, however there are natural & artificial flavours and a lot of chemically-sounding names that I can't decipher.

I emailed the company, but I usually get a much faster response on this forum

I even tried calling their 1-800 #, but just got an answering service! It's very cold here in Winnipeg and I have exams to study for! BRRRR

Thanks,

Jillian

[JillianLindsay]

INGREDIENTS: sugar, non-dairy creamer (corn syrup solids, coconut oil, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), dipotassium, phosphate, mono and diglycerides, silicon dioxide, artificial flavour and tumeric and annatto extracts), maltodextrin, non fat dry milk, natural and artificial flavour, carboxymethylcellulose, salt, tricalcium phosphate.

Certainly doesn't sound very appetizing lol... but it's supposed to go down to minus 24 tonight and I've got an exam early in the morning... please help!

If someone could even tell me if Mother Parkers is a company that can be trusted to disclose allergens (particularly wheat), that would help too. Thanks!

[psawyer]

I see nothing in that ingredient list that would cause me to worry.

Shelley Case, RD, in her book Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide says,

It would be rare to find a "natural or artificial flavoring" containing gluten because: (a) hydrolyzed wheat protein cannot be hidden under the term "flavor," and ( barley malt extract or barley malt flavoring is almost always declared as "barley malt extract" or "barley malt flavoring." For this reason, most experts do not restrict natural and artificial flavorings in the gluten-free diet.