Currently, America has no standard definition for "gluten free". The Food and Drug Administration is now working to correct this situation and is required to do so in 2008. In the meantime, there is a great deal of conversation on this topic, and people like myself are tempted to state our opinions as if they were facts.

The current discussion — or is it a debate? — involves terms like "parts per million" and "milligram". The Celiac Sprue Association has published information to help us visualize what these terms mean. I suggest that you click on the name to read the complete article. Here is a bit of what they had to say: 1 part per million is equal to one penny in $10,000 or four drops of ink in a 55 gallon barrel of water. To visualize one milligram, think about a single roasted peanut divided into 1,000 equal parts.

I'll keep you posted as this discussion unfolds. We'll all benefit from a standard definition of "gluten free". I may be one of many American who disagree  but at least we will all know what we're talking about.