Watch out for Malt

[the sensible celiac]

Malt is a generic term for a sweet and strongly flavored product of fermentation. In the USA the term malt may, and usually does, refer to barley malt.  Since barley is one of the three grains that celiacs must avoid,  malt should be considered highly suspect as an ingredient.

Sometimes malt is made from grains other than barley, corn is one example. A malt flavoring made from corn should not be a problem for a celiac, unless they are unlucky enough to be also unable to eat corn.

The problem is, if the ingredients just say malt you have no way of knowing the source of that malt.

The safest and wisest thing to do is avoid foods that contain malt, unless you can contact the manufacturer and receive assurance that you trust that their malt is not made from barley.

Steve

[cpedrick]

Since beer is brewed with barley malt, is it on the list of banned "foods"?  And if so, are there other beverages as well?  Like dark soft drinks?  Since I have heard that gluten proteins can even be in hard candies and jelly beans!  Is there a list somewhere of what to be wary of?

[the sensible celiac]

Yes, beer is to be avoided. There are a number of other types of alcoholic drinks that are also on the list to be avoided. Bourbon is a problem if I recall correctly.

Vodka comes to mind as one that is sometimes OK and sometimes not OK, it depends on the source of the alcohol. Vodka made from potatoes should be OK. 

There are places where you can get lists of foods to avoid, try http://celiac.com/ for a start.

Also try this Google Search.

[kimberlytimbers]

This page has links to the best lists I've found regarding safe and unsafe foods for celiacs/gluten intolerance. It's hard to find from the home page, so maybe you haven't seen it.....
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=12

[sheltiemom]

I have read the celiac sprue associations' excellent list of gluten free products. I highly recomend purchasing this book or the software that Clan Thompson sells to keep up to date on foods that are gluten free.  Both sources have verified the status of the products listed, no heresay. Yes, you do have to pay for these, but they are both very extensive, more than even the listing on celiac.com which is also good.  Clan Thompson also sends a free e-mail newsletter with updates on gluten free status of foods that they have in their listing and new items that they come across. By the way, I have no interest in either of these groups, I'm just ;earning all this stuff myself.

[tksmom]

I too have purchased the Smartlist at Clan Thompson, don't know what I would do without it. 

And they automatically update the list every 2-3 months or so.  It cuts out the need to constantly call companies to see if their food is still gluten free. 

Also included in the list are different restaurants and the foods they serve that are GF.

I don't have any interest in them either. I just find it an invaluable service well worth the money.

[ZachAttack]

Since I'm kind of new to all this, can anyone tell me if there has ever been any kind of organized effort to educate and lobby the cereal manufacturers to understand that if they use malt from wheat or barley it is a problem for people with Celiac.  It is so frustrating as a parent to not be able to buy the cereals.  My son eats Cocoa Pebbles, but would like some variety.  If malt can be from a corn base, why can't the cereal manufacturers use this malt instead?  Especially on the corn and rice cereals like Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, etc... 

[the sensible celiac]

I'm not aware of any organized lobbying effort on behalf of celiacs. It does sound like a great idea.  The makers of cereals could simply indicate the source of their malt flavoring, and we might find that some cereals we avoid are actually OK.

In case it helps, I often find that the least expensive breakfast cereals that are sold in plastic bags often do not have the added ingredients like malt. One example is puffed rice.

Steve