Rice Dream says it’s now gluten-free
Posted on August 25th, 2007 by alison
I picked up a box of Rice Dream non-dairy beverage (rice milk) at the grocery store yesterday and after years of warnings from fellow celiacs not to buy Rice Dream because it contained barley, I was surprised to find that it is now labeled gluten-free.
I called Rice Dream, which is part of Hain Celestial, which owns so many brands that they have customer service reps who sit there all day and read statements from their computers to answer consumers’ questions. Anyway, to get to the point: According to the customer service rep, Rice Dream has not changed their recipe. They now test “each batch” for gluten and say that the barley enzyme content is so small that the product can be considered gluten-free.
Currently, there is no U.S. standard for labeling something gluten-free, although it is in the works. You can read about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed gluten-free labeling rule. For information about current worldwide gluten-free standards, see celiac.com’s explanation.
I have now idea what standards Rice Dream is using, but now that it is labeled gluten-free, I guess I will buy it…? I am a little hesitant, but I like that it is easy to find in stores and that they have lunch box sizes to take on-the-go. Plus, there are lots of flavors, like vanilla, chocolate, carob (for those that can’t have chocolate), vanilla hazelnut and chocolate chai.
Note: The gluten-free label is only on the beverages. Some flavors of Rice Dream frozen desserts have gluten - check the label.
Our doctor said that the gluten content in Rice Dream was so low that our son would have to drink a gallon a day for it to do anything to him. He said it’s okay, not to worry about it.
Since there are other gluten-free, dairy-free beverage alternatives out there, I’m not willing to drink barley-enzyme-containing Rice Dream. If there’s just a little gluten in this and a little gluten in that all day long … it adds up. I guess you have to decide where and when you want to take the risk of knowingly exposing yourself to gluten your diet.
What do they define as “so small that the product can be considered gluten free”? Who is doing the defining?
This from a UK review study (http://www.coeliac.co.uk/healthcare_professionals/healthcare_newsletter/506.asp –scroll down to “Project update.”):
Key outcomes of the systematic review:
• There is not enough evidence available to support the current Codex standard of 200ppm so this level would appear not to be sufficiently protective for all people with coeliac disease.
• Results from the studies reviewed suggest that some patients exhibit symptoms at much lower doses of gluten than others.
• A daily consumption of 200mg or more of gluten clearly induced mucosal changes and/or symptoms.
• There is not enough evidence available to be able to derive a specific threshold dose that would be tolerated by all people with coeliac disease.
“Gluten free” is becoming a money-making marketing angle. I’m with Heather. There’s no point when other options exist.
Thanks for the specific info. and link, Ellen. I’ve grown increasingly annoyed thinking that something that contains a barley ingredient can be labeled gluten-free. One of my relatives has an extreme dairy allergy, and how absurd would it be for him to buy something labeled “dairy-free” that actually had a dairy ingredient? It likely would cause an allergic reaction. When something says “gluten-free” the implication is that it contains no wheat, barley, or rye — and a person that is allergic, rather than gluten-intolerant (the two are somewhat different) might be led astray by the gluten-free label. It’s bad enough for the gluten-intolerant individual to be led astray. I agree that it seems like some companies are not using the labeling system in good faith, just so they can market their products.
A reader wrote a letter to Rice Dream and said that I could post it on the site. Here it is:
I used to use Rice Dream for my kids’ cereal - for the last 20+ years, but had to quit using the product when I discovered my own gluten intolerance. Recently, your labels changed to reflect “gluten free.” I tried it again. Suddenly my old symptom (a rash all over my back) was back. And then I discovered on line, that no recipe had been changed.
Gluten intolerance is serious. A teensy tiny bit will make some of us truly suffer. Printing gluten free on a product that has even a smidge of barley can be toxic for someone like me.
Please rethink this. It seems to me you could turn out a fine product by changing ONE ingredient and truly protecting those special shoppers who NEED to purchase gluten-free (not gluten reduced) products.