Envelopes Contain Gluten?

[krystynycole]

I heard that envelopes that you lick may very likely contain gluten and they should never be licked. Is this true? This seems strange to me, but I would believe it at the same time because gluten is everywhere.

Any thoughts??

[psawyer]

This is a myth that has been around for years. In the eleven years I have been gluten-free, I have never found a verified instance of gluten in envelope adhesive.

[krystynycole]

That's sort of what I was running into. I couldn't really find any reason to believe it. Plus I lick envelopes all the time and send out a lot of cards at Christmas without having a reaction which made me question it even more.

[Lisa]

Nope, not a worry...although icky.

[T.H.]

I haven't seen any case of this happening in the USA. I know of one person who had an issue with cards and envelopes from...I think it was China, perhaps? But that was second hand information.

The one thing you might want to be careful of is if an eco-friendly type paper makes up the envelope, actually. Wheat pulp is being looked at as an alternative to wood pulp for paper. It's often listed as post-agricultural pulp, or there might be a note on the envelope box stating that they use fewer trees, or no trees at all, in their paper. That's usually a good clue to double check.

I've only personally seen wheat pulp paper products from Canada and China. I believe it was mostly regular paper rather than envelopes, but I wouldn't swear it, and it seems to be a trend that is slowly on the rise.

There may be wheat-based paper in other areas as well, but I only know for certain about Canada and China. And even there, the majority is in China.

[dilettantesteph]

Since this is a super sensitive forum, I thought I'd add a few tidbits. I kept getting sick after paying bills. Since there was no way it could be the envelopes according to all the experts, I kept looking for something else. I did make the connection after awhile.

The envelope glue is made from corn. I am one of those who can't eat processed corn, but I can eat corn on the cob without problems. Then I bought a bucket of whole grain corn and found out what my problem must be. Among the corn kernels in the bucket there were wheat berries. I guess that with crop rotation, shared harvesting equipment, storage areas, transportation facilities, packaging facilities, etc. some mixing up of things can occur. I have also found lentils and corn as well as wheat in my sorghum. Things just get a little bit mixed up.

The amounts are terribly low and it has been determined by experts that these levels of contamination aren't enough to harm celiacs. They do seem to be enough to make me feel like crap though. There may be other super sensitives out there with a similar sensitivity so I thought I'd let you know.

[thleensd]

+1 for the urban legend that won't die theory.

That being said, I don't lick anything that I didn't wash, grow, or read the label on. Please pass the envelope sponge or a damp paper towel!

Of course, now that I'm also corn-free it's not even a question, I don't lick stuff. Well, except that one frog in that one rain forest..... ;-)

[psawyer]

Of course, now that I'm also corn-free it's not even a question, I don't lick stuff.

Corn in adhesive is common in North America. Corn is gluten-free, but some of us are sensitive to things other than gluten. Soy, Dairy and Corn are common.