<<Disclaimer:  Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Happy New Year everyone..

Well, the resounding consensus to my question on Stonyfield yogurt was 'it
you are not absolutely sure, DON'T EAT IT!!!!'....

Below are some of the recommendations and comments.  I bought some Yoplait
Yumsters yesterday and they are OK...the best part for my son was that the
containers had a fire truck on the side....

-------------------------
If the alcohol is distilled the gluten should be eliminated in the
distilling process according to what I have read.  I believe it is only
malt
vinegar or malt liquor that would still contain gluten.  However, this is
one of those areas where you need to read research and decide yourself
because everyone has a different opinion/tolerance level.

Yumsters yogurt (all flavors) by yoplait is GF.  I believe that all
Yoplait
brand yogurt is GF except the ones with granola and cookies on the top.
(I
haven't really checked the other ones recently because my kids prefer the
yumsters flavors.)
-----------------------
I just wanted to share with you our experience with the Yo-Baby yogurt. My
two year old was eating it and having symptoms. I called and got the
same 'trace amount' answer that you did. I immediately stopped feeding it
to her. I'm not sure if it's a matter of it being more than a trace or if
she's that sensitive.
Check with companies like Kraft and Nestle. They state that in ingredients
like modified food starch, natural flavorings, vinegar, etc. if it's a
hidden source of gluten it will be stated in parentheses as such. I guess
we need to ask questions like 'what is the source of your natural flavor/
modified food starch/ etc.?' rather than 'Is this gluten free?' That way,
we're getting specific answers to specific questions. I can't recall what
product and what company, but I had called and asked 'is this gluten
free?' and was told yes, but when I asked the source of a questionable
ingredient, I was told they weren't sure. So how can it be gluten free??
----------------------
I agree with your decision. Regardless of the quantity, you cannot take a
chance with gluten. My daughter is very sensitive to gluten and since she
is in renal failure, a bad gluten reaction can really mess up her
electrolytes and put her in the hospital. If there is any chance something
has any gluten in it, we take no chances. And even though she is only 6,
she is very good about sticking to her diet.
----------------------
I believe the concensus is that grain alcohol (even from wheat) will NOT
contain gluten unless it is added back in after distillation.  Adding it
back in would not normally be done unless it was something like beer.
Therefore, we have been safely using flavorings containing alcohol with no
problems for years.  I'm not sure, but I think there was an article about
this on celiac.com or perhaps it was on the St Johns celiac listserv (not
the childrens list).
-----------------------
I found a list online that said the following brands were safe- I would
love
to find a good one that is GF, sugar-free, and WHOLE milk! It seems like
the
demand is for low-fat, but that's not what our little ones need!

Yoplait
Wallaby
Nancy's (sugar-free, and the honey yogurt is whole milk, but can be hard to
find)
Dairy Gold
Cascade Fresh (also sugar-free, but only 2 whole milk flavors)
----------------------
I do not feed this product to my children because they will only eat
flavored yogurt.  Yoplait is gluten free.  While I would like to give them
an organic yougurt, I don't because I have not found one that is safe.
----------------------
Hi Laura - I am very interested in what you find out.  I use to give the
Stonyfield squeeze yogurts to my daughter frequently until I found out
about
the potential problem.  Two squeeze yogurts I have confirmed are gluten-
free
are Horizons (all there products are gluten-free) and Go-Gurt (not exactly
healthy but something she can share with her classmates).

=====================

Original Message

Quick question on stonyfield yogurt (makers of Yo-baby yogurt that my son
LOVED before being diagnosed)....I went to their website and they say the
following:

"Does your yogurt contain gluten?
Though we dont add gluten, there is an immeasurable amount of gluten in
our yogurt, which comes from the processing of the fruit and flavors with
a grain alcohol. The only flavors we can be absolutely certain have no
traces of gluten are our nonfat, lowfat and whole milk plain yogurts."

...so, to this point, we have not had any since there is a chance, even a
slight one, that it may contain gluten...I was just looking to get some
opinions on this...

I am particularly concerned about this since I believe (I am still new to
this so could be wrong) most if not all flavors are produced with some
sort of alcohol...I always call the manufacturer if they list 'flavorings'
and have yet to find one that says that the flavorings include gluten...

Not sure if I need an education on this or they do...please forward any
comments and I will summarize.

* Cel-Kids Web Page:  http://www.enabling.org/ia/cel-kids *