Random thoughts from the moose cave.

My forebears do not come from equatorial regions.

Reading ingredient labels carefully and being aware of types of hidden gluten. Gluten can be in things like medicines, vitamins and other nutritional supplements, lipstick and lip balm, and various food additives. Products whose labels have the phrase "modified food starch" or "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" may contain gluten.

Starch modifications can improve a food’s ability to withstand cooling, heating, freezing and defrosting. Modifying a starch by pre-gelatinizing it is how instant puddings can become thickened with only the addition of cold milk, without cooking it. Acid-treating or oxidizing certain starches can change the starch molecule to lower its viscosity. Roasting some starches along with the addition of hydrochloric acid produces dextrin, which can increase crispness of commercially-produced foods. These are just a few of the many modifications that can be made to food starches to change them molecularly.

Although any food starch can be modified, in the United States all modified food starches are gluten-free unless made from wheat. Barley and rye starches are not commonly used. Because of recent food allergen labeling requirements, in the United States any product that uses wheat starch as the basis of its “modified food starch” must list the ingredient as “modified wheat starch” or some similar wording that specifies the product’s wheat-based origin. Alternately, you may find the mention of wheat in the package’s allergen warning. If the product simply says “modified food starch” and has no wheat allergen warning, it is derived from a gluten-free source. The most common sources include corn, potato and tapioca.
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