The question of wheat/gluten sensitivity

In the past year there has been a great deal of debate as to whether rice is gluten free or not. The concern with rice is not with the rice
itself, but the coatings that are applied to enriched rice to add vitamins to the grain itself. Rice itself is gluten free, but enriched rice is
rice that has been sprayed with a vitamin coating and some fear that the coating could contain a gluten based grain. I have been
researching rice and have yet to come across a brand that contains any gluten in the coatings. I have had a difficult time in getting
any particular manufacturer to tell me exactly what is in their enriched rice coating that causes it to stick to the grain. S & W brand did
let me know that the medium they use is cornstarch based, so their product is gluten free; however, this does not tell me that all
manufacturers use this same process across the board.

Since cornstarch can and is generally used as a medium, I can not rule out that wheat starch could not ever be used as a medium for
enriching rice as well. I firmly believe you should verify that any rice you purchase that says enriched on the package is indeed gluten
free before consuming it, because there could be the small chance that it could contain gluten and that is not worth the risk. I advocate
this type of vigilance over any processed foods, because you need to always be a food label detective. When I take things for granted
that is when I seem toget "glutened" and we all know that is not fun. Also be very careful when purchasing flavored rice mixes, many
of these are not gluten free. Always read the label and check with the manufacturer to verify that the product you select is indeed gluten free.

Here are some gluten free enriched rice sources that I have confirmed to be gluten free. We are currently verifying the gluten free status of
other rice manufacturers and will post them as soon as we have the results.

Manufacturer:	G.F. Products:	Contact Info:
Uncle Bens	UNCLE BEN'S ORIGINAL CONVERTED Brand Rice UNCLE BEN'S Instant Rice UNCLE BEN'S Original Brown Rice UNCLE BEN'S Instant Brown Rice UNCLE BEN'S Boil-in-Bag Rice UNCLE BEN'S Long Grain & Wild Rice (discard seasoning packet) UNCLE BEN'S Specialty Rices (Arborio, Basmati, Jasmine)	www.unclebens.com
Minute Rice	Minute Rice is owned by Kraft Foods and they no longer release a gluten free list. Kraft now includes all ingredients on their products so if there is even a minute trace of gluten, they claim that they always list it on the label in a clear manner.	www.kraftfoods.com/minuterice
Mahatma Rice	Long grain rice, Brown Rice, Instant White Rice, Jasmine, Valencia (Short Grain), Spanish Rice Mix, Broccoli Rice and Cheese Mix, Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix, Nacho Cheese Rice Mix, Saffron Yellow Rice Mix	www.mahatmarice.com
S & W Rice	Enriched White Extra Long Grain Rice, Brown Rice Long Grain Rice, Indian Basmati, Thai Jasmine, Long Grain and Wild, Italian Arborio.	http://www.s-and-wrice.com