Anyone Here Eat Regular Soy Sauce?

[jasonD2]

I read that the fermentation process breaks down the gluten. this is the one ingredient that is preventing me from chinese food so it would be fantastic if soy sauce is safe

[tarnalberry]

No, not a chance. Make your own chinese food with gluten free soy sauce or tamari.

[jststric]

there are some soy sauces that are gluten-free....the little packets of Cari-Out seem to be fine, but you never know what they are using in the restaurant to cook in the food. I used to have a little local place that would fix any of their dishes for me with "white sauce"----strictly cornstarch and water, instead of the dark soy sauces they usually come with. They were wonderful to me. But they had a death in the family and had to sell the shop, so I don't get the same service with the new owners. : (

[sixtytwo]

LaChoy soy sauce is gluten-free. I use it all the time. I don't know what you meant by "regular" but LaChoy is a very popular name in the Chinese section at regular grocery stores.

[lovegrov]

Tell us where you read this. I've never heard of it but boy would I love it to be true.

richard

[Lisa]

Tell us where you read this. I've never heard of it but boy would I love it to be true.

richard

Richard, there was some talk regarding the fermentation process of soy sauce on this forum a couple of years ago. It sounded quite reasonable to me, but have not seen anything "official".

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Tell us where you read this. I've never heard of it but boy would I love it to be true.

richard

Hi, Richard, I posted a thread about this this last year, with this link: Open Original Shared Link along with a question asking if anyone had tried this, had reactions, or had any further information about fermentation of gluten.

The only answers to my question were posts telling me that San-J and LaChoy are safe (which didn't really answer my question).

I know a couple of fairly sensitive celiacs who have soy sauce with nonoticeable symptoms, and also no increase in antibodies when tested (they get tested every year at the celiac clinic here). I also know one celiac who says that she DOES have noticeable symptoms to soy sauce, and many people have posted here how they react to soy sauce.

[Lisa]

Open Original Shared Link

Kikkoman claims soy sauce is OK

Posted on May 1st, 2007 by alison

I was in Miami in April and ate at the famous Nobu Japanese restaurant. I told the waiter about my intolerance to gluten, and therefore my inability to eat soy sauce, as it contains wheat. He replied, “We have something for people like you,” and produced a letter from Kikkoman soy sauce company that said, in a nutshell, that there are no wheat or soy proteins in their soy sauce that could cause allergic reactions. I sat there, stunned / confused / excited – could it be true? If so, why have I been avoiding soy sauce and therefore Asian restaurants in general for the last 5 years?? Could I actually eat family style with my gluten-eating friends? At that moment I had a decision to make – eat the appetizers my friends had ordered, or eat my own sushi with my wheat-free soy sauce I had stashed in my purse. What would YOU do?

Well, I decided to do it – eat the appetizers, I mean! I ate a few pieces of saucy fish and some salad with a soy sauce dressing. A few minutes later, I had an intense itching in my throat, which I used to have all the time before going gluten-free and which I get sometimes with seasonal allergies. Was this my reaction to the small amount of soy sauce I had consumed? I stopped sharing right then and there and pulled out my soy sauce stash. I felt like a deflated balloon.

Once home I decided that I needed to get to the bottom of this Kikkoman claim, so I sent an email inquiry. Here is the letter that they sent to me (note that it is dated February 4, 2005): kikkomangluten_statement_2_4_05.pdf. I don’t think I will be using the Lazy Susan in any Chinese restaurants anytime soon, but decide for yourself!

[Wolicki]

I do not have a bottle of La Choy soy sauce handy, but I called La Choy and listened to their recording about allergens. They practice allergen information labeling, so if it contains wheat or gluten, it will say on the label. I will check when I go to the market later.

[MaryJones2]

Interesting letter. I'd like to know how many people with soy allergies consider soy sauce a hypoallergenic food. That letter was written in 2005 and wasn't the codex standard 200 ppm back then?

[lovegrov]

If a soy sauce or tamari doesn't list wheat it's gluten-free. Barley's not a problem in soy sauce.

richard

[lovegrov]

OK, I had forgotten about the Kikkoman claim.

richard

[missy'smom]

Interesting letter. I'd like to know how many people with soy allergies consider soy sauce a hypoallergenic food. That letter was written in 2005 and wasn't the codex standard 200 ppm back then?

Indeed. it says 200ppm right on the letter.

We should consider the source and their interests and who is doing the evaluation of the product. The letter is clear that many things are not clear. All the facts that I would want to have are absent.

[JillianLindsay]

I use VH low-sodium with no problems. I don't think ALL VH soy sauces are gluten-free, but this one is.

Here's another soy sauce-related thread:

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.php?showtopic=384

[psawyer]

The regular VH Soy Sauce is gluten-free. Most VH sauces are gluten-free, and any gluten will be clearly labeled as per ConAgra's labeling policy.

[Lisa]

The letter from Kikkoman was a bit difficult for me to understand. I asked my chemist daughter for an interpretations:

It is saying that the production process in making soy sauce breaks the protein down into it's constituent amino acids (building blocks) and small fragments, which aren't supposed to trigger a celiac response. States that "protein fragments need to be large enough to possess particular structures for the development of such reactions" and that fragments in their soy sauce "would be too small" due to the enzymatic processes they use during brewing. Apparently they do test (as they gave their test method) and find gliadin levels "below their limit of detection," which is 1.5 ppm.

[lizard00]

I don't do regular soy sauce. But I don't eat regular soy sauce often either, as I can't do soy. But, last year for our anniversary, we went to dinner a very nice restaurant and the chef was informed of the gluten problem before hand. The server, however, was a little clueless. So, we ordered something with a satay sauce for an appetizer (DUH!), because the message I got back was "It has soy."

I'm pretty sure she dropped off a part of that sentence, because later on, I made satay sauce and now I know that they contain soy sauce, not just soy. Long story short, I was sick for a couple of days after the dinner. Will I be eating regular soy sauce ever again???? No.

I might add, however, that I'm pretty sensitive to gluten. So what doesn't work for me could possibly work for someone else.

[tarnalberry]

The letter from Kikkoman was a bit difficult for me to understand. I asked my chemist daughter for an interpretations:

It is saying that the production process in making soy sauce breaks the protein down into it's constituent amino acids (building blocks) and small fragments, which aren't supposed to trigger a celiac response. States that "protein fragments need to be large enough to possess particular structures for the development of such reactions" and that fragments in their soy sauce "would be too small" due to the enzymatic processes they use during brewing. Apparently they do test (as they gave their test method) and find gliadin levels "below their limit of detection," which is 1.5 ppm.

The problem is, I know of no test that looks for JUST the 33-mer section of gliadin that causes the reaction. So, let's say that their process does break down full protein into smaller groups. Does it break down the whole protein in the right way that the secondary/tertiary/quaternary structures aren't able to form the proline rich surfaces that trigger the autoimmune reaction? Without a test for THAT SECTION of protein, we can't be sure. So, they're making a potentially valid argument, but their testing methods almost certainly do not address the argument they present. (As far as I understand it, so far. I didn't read the whole letter.)

[inmygenes]

No I don't eat it as it has a warning that it contains wheat. As far as I understand it's not safe.

I take my own gluten-free soy sauce with me when I eat out, you can buy small bottles of Braggs soy sauce which are convenient.