Rice Dream Rice Drink

Well, I am entering the world of non-dairy milk and it is pretty confusing!

Last night I bought Rice Dream Rice Drink Vanilla Enriched. I did not know if I needed to buy the enriched one or not. I also did not know if I should buy the Vanilla or the Original "flavor." The main intended use was to have on my cereal in the morning so I went with the vanilla, figuring that if anything it would be too sweet and that should be fine on cereal. The verdict on the Vanilla Rice Dream - I really liked it on my cereal!

I was at another grocery store today and noticed their Rice Dream was less expensive so I went ahead and bought an Original flavor as well so I could taste it and see what I thought. Big mistake! The Original one is NOT GLUTEN-FREE!!!!!

Interestingly enough, it lists the amount of gluten it has. Of course at this stage I have no idea what my threshhold is but I was curious what amount is allowed for something to be called GF.

In January this year the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed regulation on the labeling of gluten-free foods. This proposes a single maximum gluten level of less than 20ppm as part of conditions for a 'gluten-free' claim. Before the ruling is finalized FDA is waiting for additional information from a safety assessment and public comment.

(http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=80101&m=2FLGO02&idP=18&c=vhsebhtzbdswggn&idcat=0)

The Rice Dream lists the gluten as less than .002%. If my "calculations" are correct, than this is the same thing as saying less that 20ppm so maybe this is ok to drink. Possibly not worse than other items I am consuming that are labeled as GF.

Hmm! Now I need to figure out whether to buy the shelf-stable or refrigerated and whether to buy enriched or not.