"organic Barley Grass"

[elle's mom]

Last week I bought these vitamins (Calcium/Mag/Vit D combo) at my local health food store and they said "gluten-free" right on the box. One of the ingredients was this "organic barley grass".....obviously sounds like gluten to me so I ask the owner. He says the 'grass' is different than the barley grain so it's not gluten. I say OK and take the vits. I also confirm what he said to be true. The vitamins make me feel good, so I am loving it! Then my dd (4mo old baby-nursing) gets super fussy 4 days later. This is the only new thing in our diet, so I'm sure it's the culprit.

I just wondered if this was a rookie mistake on my part (cc), or if anyone else has (or has NOT) had trouble with this ingredient? I

[psawyer]

The grass is lower in gluten than the usual milled seeds, but it is not gluten-free. You will also sometimes encounter "sprouted" grains. Again, there may be a lower gluten content, but they are not safe.

[lpellegr]

You also don't know whether there were any traces of the seeds when the barley grass was harvested or transported or processed. I'd avoid any part of the plant, just in case, same with wheat grass.

[Korwyn]

  elle said:

Last week I bought these vitamins (Calcium/Mag/Vit D combo) at my local health food store and they said "gluten-free" right on the box. One of the ingredients was this "organic barley grass".....obviously sounds like gluten to me so I ask the owner. He says the 'grass' is different than the barley grain so it's not gluten. I say OK and take the vits. I also confirm what he said to be true. The vitamins make me feel good, so I am loving it! Then my dd (4mo old baby-nursing) gets super fussy 4 days later. This is the only new thing in our diet, so I'm sure it's the culprit.

I just wondered if this was a rookie mistake on my part (cc), or if anyone else has (or has NOT) had trouble with this ingredient? I

I cannot even have tea that has barley grass in it. While the gluten content may be 'lower' it still has gluten. Gluten is not only found in the seed.

[Kay-dee]

I ate this once... I baught a bar that was labeled gluten-free (this was in my very early gluten-free days!) I ate it THEN looked at the ingredients and to my horror I saw "barley grass" AND "wheat grass". I had no reaction to it and I'm pretty sensitive... but I don't think I would eat it again! I think it's a gamble... though it is supposedly gluten-free, i'm sure there is risk of cc.

[GFinDC]

I made the mistake of taking a multi-vitamin with oat straw or oat grass, something like that in it. The pills didn't bother me noticeably at first, but seemed to build up to a stronger reaction over time. Not good stuff. I figure it was a very small amount of gluten, and oat gluten which didn't use to bother me. But it did get the better of me when taken every day.

[Tim-n-VA]

I think it comes down to the fact that gluten is only created in the grain portion of the plant. IF you can get just the stalk/grass part of barley or wheat it will be gluten free. Obviously, there is a very high chance of cross-contamination. My understanding is that these grasses are usually harvested before the grain/seed forms but still there is room for error.

[darlindeb25]

I would get rid of the vitamins...too much of a chance, in my opinion.