JournalNow.com: Veggin' Out
Contrary to a popular stereotype, vegetarians are not all champions of self-denial, pathetically munching a sprout on the sidelines while watching the omnivores have all the culinary fun. Instead, the vegetarians we know love good food and know where to get it. They aren't about to settle for a bland meal, either at home or at a restaurant.
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Hi, Elbows,
This is a very good question, and I don’t have a complete answer.
Part of the answer is that it appears your friends don’t need to worry about this case - The contaminated gluten that has caused the pet-food problems has not entered the human food supply.
Earlier this month, the AP reported that “None of the contaminated wheat gluten that led to the U.S. recall of pet food went to manufacturers of food for humans, the importer of the ingredient said ...” More of the story is available online at several newspaper sites, including http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=192604
But your larger question, of whether it is possible to track the source of flour and wheat, is more difficult. I usually buy gluten flour in bulk, which gives no indication of where it comes from. I don’t know whether packaged gluten offers any clues. My sense is that it would be very difficult to track this.
I would welcome any suggestions and comments from readers who have concerns about this issue.... And if I’m able to learn any more about this that might be helpful, I will post it right away.
Best regards,
Julie
4/11/2007 4:02 PM
Julie
I’ve been cooking with wheat gluten powder for a couple of months now. It’s easy to mix, simmer and fry. Then the pet food scare has my friends worried. They remember ‘wheat gluten kills’ from the stories, and the other links they find when they look up ‘wheat gluten’ are the stories put out about celiac conditions, and again they remember ‘wheat gluten kills’. Now they don’t feel comfortable with my food again. (This game is hard!) Are there any ways to track the source of the flour or wheat gluten powder any more? I don’t exactly live near too many wheat farmers. Oh, and I’m canadian, so I know there’s a lot of wheat here in North America.
4/10/2007 10:43 PM
elbows