What's the weirdest place you've ever found

[Panserbjorne]

Gluten? It's hidden everywhere, but yesterday at whole foods I was going to buy marzipan and it had glucose that was DERIVED FROM WHEAT! I was shocked. How about you? Where have you found gluten and been shocked?

[3_opihi]

Definitely red licorice. I was shocked when I found out it's pretty much pure gluten (and red food dye).

[flitters]

ya know, it's totally common knowledge to most of the gluten-sensitive community, but i was very surprised when i first learned that it is in soy sauce.

my most recent surprise was hearing that someone found some in ketchup.

[Panserbjorne]

The licorice totally depresses me. I love red licorice. Ketchup was a shocker too...but my healthfood store has alot of options for ketchup. I made my own for awhile. Man, is that a pain.

[jocelyndale]

Not gluten, but soy. Lemon flavoring. Now, I can understand the lemon oil flavoring (soy is the carrier oil), but the lemon extract at the supermarket? I never figured out if it was a carrier like soy lecithin, or what.

I'm still irked that Pamela's gluten-free lemon shortbread has a soy-containing lemon oil. Come on! I need my store-bought lemon cookies as much as the next person!

Glucose syrup derived from wheat seems to be more common in Europe, where it's considered gluten-free. CODEX standards aren't strict enough for me, though. Watch for it in imported chocolates and biscuits (gluten-free or not).

[Panserbjorne]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I had never read that anywhere about the lemon extract. I wonder if it's the same for almond, vanilla etc? I know that many contain gluten so I need to look for GF cersions, but I had never worried about soy too. :

[onlyboys]

Those sugary fruit roll ups have wheat in them.

I was so shocked!

[nikirj]

Yeah, I was shocked about the soy sauce. Nobody in my family has a gluten problem, but we thought it would be safe for another family until I read the ingredient list on the shoyu container.