Knorr Vegetable Mix

[cricuteer]

I am SO confused about this mix. Since I have been gluten-free (about a year now), I have eaten this as a dip mix. I realize that MSG is bad for you, but I don't react to it and this is one of the very few foods I eat it in. My concern is that I had gotten lax about reading labels of things I commonly eat and know are safe. Today I just happened to turn the package around (because we are converting to 100% organic and I wanted to see how I could recreate the ingredient list), and there is said "Autolyzed Yeast Extract (Barley)". What??? It wasn't there before. So now I'm wondering how long it's been that way, and even if it's an issue??

I've searched around and there is conflicting opionions about this stuff. Some say that it is derived from Barley but it doesn't really leave any gluten as a finished product. I'm not even sure I've ever reacted to this. I bought this package with another package out of the same box sometime before Christmas. We made the other package around the holidays and I can't recall a time when I was feeling very bad.

My back story is as follows: For about 6 months I was feeling VERY awful. I couldn't leave the house, and could barely just go to work. The doctors told me I had IBS which felt like a death sentence to me if I was going to feel that way forever. I ended up taking matters into my own hands about a year ago and went 100% gluten free. I lost about 20 lbs. and gradually started feeling pretty good. My body doesn't stop me from going places and doing things much anymore. Having said all that, it also means I'm not sure I'm actually gluten intolerant or Celiac, I just know by being very dilligent I have felt really good. Could I have been eating this possibly gluten containing food and not reacting because I'm not even intolerant?? There are so many questions this poses.

[psawyer]

I suspect that it has always been there, and that it represents a new labeling policy by Unilever.

Here is a link to a recent discussion about Lipton Onion Soup Mix, another Unilever product.

The level of barley in that product is 40 parts per billion, well below the threshold for gluten-free status.