Is Whole Foods 365 Brand Rice Milk Gluten-Free?

The answer, unfortunately, is "no." The vanilla flavored 365 brand rice milk has gluten. The original flavor does not have it as an ingredient, but there is a risk of cross-contamination. Because of this, I choose to use Pacific brand rice milk. (NOTE: Rice Dream rice milk is *not* gluten-free, even though the box and the company may say so.)

Here is a response from Whole Foods about their rice milk:

Thanks for your email about our 365 Organic Everyday Value Rice Milks. The Organic Vanilla Rice Milk does [emphasis mine] contain gluten in its ingredients (specifically from barley), whereas the Organic Original Rice Milk does not contain gluten in its ingredients (and contains no barley).

Though good manufacturing practices are used to segregate these products, they are manufactured in a facility that also produces other products containing gluten. We have made every effort to be as accurate as possible, however, we cannot be held responsible for individual reactions to any products nor can we guarantee the absence of cross-contamination [emphasis mine]. Always read the label. The information provided here is for educational purposes only. In no way should it be considered as medical advice.

To date we have had no reported incidents involving a gluten reaction to either of these products.

[. . .]

I hope this answers some of the questions you had about our Rice Milks, and that you continue to enjoy shopping at Whole Foods Market!

Reagan Taplin
Senior Customer Service Specialist, Private Label

Although we choose not to use the Original flavor of the Whole Foods 365 rice milks, I know that some people do use them and report no problems. I just don't want to have to worry about cross contamination issues, so I don't bother.

Hope this helps somebody!!!