4 replies to this topic

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Am I the only one who sees this and says, "Haha Just another way of trying to deceive and poison us by avoiding saying this product is gluten free". Am i wrong? It just smells fishy to me. Seems to me that they say this so they do not have to make sure that the particular product is not contaminated according to regulations.

What I am asking is, "Should we not be wary of eating this food because the fact that it does not require gluten to be made is irrelevent to whether it is contaminated."

[kareng]

Many things are gluten free. Grapes are naturally gluten free. Would be silly for the grape company to pay for gluten testing and add the cost on for everyone.

What I'm trying to point out is, some companies are not going to pay for testing that will add to the cost for everyone. Because they haven't tested, the lawyers advise them not to say just " gluten free". They have no gluten ingredients and no reason to think there is gluten, so they might say " naturally gluten free".

I'm just speaking about what i jave seen in the US. We have no rules about gluten-free labeling here.

[Razzle Dazzle Brazell]

Exactly! Does that mean it is safe though? I mean Many things do not have ingredients that contain gluteny items but if you prepare it on the same surface you flowered with wheat flour somebody is gonna get zonked

I wanted to add that I am not speaking about whole foods but prepared and processed foods and sauces, etc.

[kareng]

I think common sense helps. It is not likely there is any wheat in a cheese factory, for example.

I realize someone will tell you there is gluten everywhere and if the guy picking the fruit eats wheat bread for lunch, your fruit is contaminated. I choose to use common sense. I choose to educate myself about how products are grown and made.

[psawyer]

Part of the reason for it is regulatory. Labeling something gluten-free means that it is a distinguishing characteristic of that product compared to other similar products. Labeling bananas gluten-free would be considered misleading by the FDA and CFIA because there is nothing special about those bananas.

You are allowed to say it two ways:
Bananas are naturally gluten-free.
These bananas, like all bananas, are gluten-free.

Testing for cross-contamination is a whole different issue. The claim on a tested product will read something like:
This product has been tested and contains less than 20 ppm gluten.
(20 is just an example--it will depend on the test used.)