There are many reasons people follow a gluten free diet, some by choice and some by health. No matter the reason, its important to know what you are putting in your body. So the real question is “why a gluten free label on a product isn’t enough information?”. Not all gluten free products are created or labeled equally. First off I want to explain what it means when a package says “gluten free”. There are several different uses and phrases of “gluten free”:
- Gluten Free
- No Gluten Ingredients
- No Gluten
- Certified Gluten Free
- Processed in a dedicated Gluten Free Facility
- Individual Company gluten free labels
There are lots of variations of gluten free labels and I’ll go through the most common ones starting with the least restrictive (most risky) labeling and continue on to the most restrictive (safest) labeling and testing procedures.
Made with no gluten-containing ingredients is not regulated by the FDA but in general means that none of the ingredients in the product have known gluten but they do not check for gluten content or ask that of their suppliers and is by far the riskiest label.
“Gluten-free,” “no gluten,” “free of gluten,” or “without gluten” are covered under the FDA regulations and as long as the final product has under 20 parts per million (ppm) OR doesn’t contain an ingredient that is any type of wheat, rye, barley, or crossbreeds of these grains or derived of these any of these labels can be used. Each manufacturer is responsible for using the voluntary label “in an accurate and not misleading manner”. There are no testing requirements. Any consumer can report potential misuse of the label (instructions at the bottom) and manufacturers can choose to test, but it is not required.
This is where sensitivity comes into play. For many, the FDA regulations for labeling are perfectly sufficient to keep them safe and healthy. BUT if you are still having stomach issues after eating food labeled just “gluten free” you may be more sensitive than 20 ppm. For those of us that are highly sensitive, the FDA regulation isn’t a strict enough guideline. I honestly can’t count the number of ER visits I’ve had from foods labeled “gluten free”.
There are many companies that have their own labels, a few shown below, but make sure to understand what each means. Of course they are covered under the FDA standard but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they test or to what level they test.
Bob’s Red Mill deserves a space of its own so in keeping with the organization of least restrictive to move restrictive, keep reading 🙂
Processed in a dedicated gluten free facility should be the safest labeling as it means that not only are the products gluten free but nothing containing gluten is even in the vicinity and that includes workers lunch food; however, there are no actual regulations on this phrase other than general rules to not mislead consumers. That being said, I have always been most safe combining this label with any of the following labels, but not on its own.
NSF International Gluten-Free Certification is a third party certification that tests and guarantees that the FDA standards are followed, less than 20 ppm.
Gluten Free Certification Program is a label that is co-branded by Beyond Celiac. This is also a third party certification program; however, has a range of meanings. It holds the company to the standards that the company chooses. In general, they hold to the FDA standard of less than 20 ppm; however, if a company chooses to claim at a lower rate of 10ppm or 5ppm for example, the third party testing will hold them to that number.
This labeling is unique because it can be used not only on food but also the following items:
- processed foods, both own brand and customer branded
- ingredients for use by food service companies, catering companies and/or food manufacturers
- pet foods
- cosmetics
- natural health products
- drugs
Certified Gluten Free by GFCO.org means that the company has chosen to get evaluated by a third party (there are currently 3 approved firms) and adheres to strict guidelines, one of which being less than 10ppm gluten (5ppm gliadin) in any ingredient or the finished product. There are additional requirements of testing equipment, production lines, etc.
Bob’s Red Mill belongs right here, and is hands down one of the largest companies to do gluten free so well, never mind that hey do it with grains! They have a separate wing for gluten free. They test each ingredient, after milling and again at final product and have a zero tolerance, they call it “Gluten Freedom”. They have their own lab onsite that runs 22 hours a day to make sure all of the points of testing continue. On top of all of that, they also have some products that not only get their own testing but get third party testing. This combination of continual internal testing and third party testing is why it is one step ahead of the GFCO on it’s own.
GF Certified – National Celiac Association is yet another third party certification program; however, it has taken the limits to another level of stringency. This certification is by far the most stringent certification process with testing requirements at less than 5ppm.
While there is a wide range of certifications and labels for gluten free foods, knowing the details is key to staying safe, but third party certification exists and the ability to know the details is a huge win. One of the most shocking findings in writing this article and fact checking every sentence, is that peanut free labeling does not exist. There are no third party certifications for peanut free foods and that astounds me. I have truly grateful that we have these ranges of certifications because, while they are confusing and every person has to figure out which ones keep them safe, they exist.
Beyond labeling and certification, just because a product doesn’t have one of the mentioned labels doesn’t mean it isn’t gluten free it just means that each person needs to do a risk assessment based on their sensitivity.
There are many different categories of foods that are naturally gluten free listed below along with some of the pitfalls that I have found along the way:
- Fruits & Vegetables – high likelihood of being naturally gluten free
- Be careful to wash very well as some pesticides contain gluten
- Cheese – high likelihood of being gluten free naturally
- exceptions
- unsafe vinegar
- gluten containing stabilizers (usually listed in ingredients)
- gluten containing additives (usually listed in ingredients)
- blue cheese or anything mold added cheese (blue mold can be grown on bread and then transferred to the cheese)
- exceptions
- Milk – high likelihood of being gluten free naturally
- For extreme sensitivity I highly recommend 100% grass fed
- Eggs – high likelihood of being naturally gluten free
- For extreme sensitivity I highly recommend 100% grass fed
- Be careful ordering eggs in restaurants as many chains add pancake batter
- Fresh meat of all kinds – high likelihood of being naturally gluten free
- Fresh meat does not include any processed meats: sausage, hot dogs, deli meats, bacon, etc.
- For extreme sensitivity I highly recommend 100% grass fed
- Rice – high likelihood of being naturally gluten free
- Be careful with any rice that is fortified
- Be careful with cross contamination
- Highly recommend only using rice that has labeling and procedures that match your sensitivity level
At the end of the day, these are all personal choices based on sensitivity, budget and lifestyle but with the the right data, these decisions can be more informed and hopefully keep everyone safer!
Per the FDA website: Individuals can report a problem with a food or its labeling, such as potential misuse of “gluten-free” claims, to FDA in either of these ways:
- Contact MedWatch, FDA’s Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program, at 800-332-1088, or file a MedWatch voluntary report at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch
- Contact the consumer complaint coordinator in their area. The list of FDA consumer complaint coordinators is available at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators
