Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Help Celiac.com:
    eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Record is Archived

    This article is now archived and is closed to further replies.

    Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    New Universal Gluten-free Symbol for European Food Packaging

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.
    New Universal Gluten-free Symbol for European Food Packaging -

    Celiac.com 02/06/2012 - Coeliac UK, Britain's leading celiac disease organization has finalized an agreement for all European countries to use a single universal gluten-free symbol on the front of all packaging for gluten-free products.

    Crossed Grain LogoUnder the agreement, the Association of European Coeliac Societies will adopt Coeliac UK’s ‘cross-grain’ symbol as the standard for gluten-free labeling across Europe. 

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
    The agreement simplifies what was a confusing web of individual logos on branded and local bakery food packaging.

    The overall goal is to establish the logo as the universal quality assurance symbol for gluten-free products.

    Coeliac UK's chief executive, Sarah Sleet, told British Baker that the “…European-wide agreement to share the symbol and its quality assurance measures…has huge potential as the commonly-used symbol on packs, because all coeliac consumers recognize it."

    She noted that, in the UK, while her organization has licensed the symbol to grocery chains like Warburtons, many supermarkets have simply created their own symbols. This has left many consumers confused about standards of quality and reliability regarding gluten-free products.

    Sleet feels that the agreement to establish a standard European labeling symbol for gluten-free products may help to end that confusion.

    “My colleagues in Europe are getting a lot of interest from big players like Carrefour and the German discounters, who are looking to take up that symbol license," she says. "That may put pressure on supermarkets in the UK to adopt it too.”

    Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of gluten-free information website Foodmatters, agrees. “I think it would be hugely beneficial for consumers if there could be some agreement about logos," she says. "The current situation is both confusing and potentially dangerous for those with health issues.”

    Per capita, the UK has the highest percentage of consumers who avoid gluten. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel data (52 w/e 4 September, 2011), the total UK gluten and wheat-free market is now worth £135.9m, with sales soaring 15.5% annually into the foreseeable future.

    Gluten-free consumers, surveyed by McCallum Layton in 2011,
    voiced strong support for a universal industry-wide symbol. In that survey, many interviewees complained of varied and confusing symbols, and of product labels that required careful study.

    A survey of attendees at The Allergy & Gluten-Free Show 2011 revealed that 80% of people found ‘free-from’ symbols to be helpful, while 85% preferred to see specific logos, such as 'gluten-free,' placed on the front of product packages.

    How will European progress toward uniform labeling symbols for gluten-free products impact us here in America? Could we benefit from standards for 'gluten-free'

    Source:

    • Open Original Shared Link


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Guest Joan

    One symbol would be extremely helpful.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Suki

    An image of the symbol would be helpful.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Marilyn

    Posted

    Since many products are imported, an image of the symbol instead of a phone booth would have been apropos.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Bj

    An image of the symbol would be helpful indeed!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Guest
    This is now closed for further comments

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Help Celiac.com:
    Donate
  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Related Articles

    Scott Adams
    Celiac.com 09/01/2005 - The Gluten Intolerance Group® is pleased to announce our gluten-free food certification program, the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO), the first program of its kind in the world! This new independent food processing inspection program will verify that food products meet the highest standards for gluten-free ingredients and a safe processing environment. Food products meeting these high standards will receive our gluten-free certification mark, allowing gluten-free consumers to easily identify foods that are free of gluten and possible cross-contamination from gluten.
    Key elements of the GFCO process include:
    Ingredients review, down to the original supplier Onsite inspections by experienced, trained independent (third party...


    Scott Adams
    Celiac.com 08/31/2006 - On July 27, 2006, Representative Nita Lowey (D - NY) introduced H.Con.Res. 457, which, if passed, would recognize the month of May as national “Celiac Awareness Month.” The bill also requests an increase in federal funding for celiac disease research. Rep. Lowey was the driving force in Congress in support of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act that passed in 1994, which requires food manufacturers to list the top eight allergens on their products’ ingredient labels.
    Celiac.com supports Rep. Lowey in her efforts to raise celiac disease awareness, and asks you to get involved. Please contact your representatives in congress and ask them to support H.Con.Res. 457—to do so simply visit: Open Original Shared Link
    ...


    Jefferson Adams
    Celiac.com 01/06/2011 - The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) released its first ever list of guidelines for food allergies. Developed over two years by a panel of nineteen experts, the guidelines suggested avoiding the ingestion of specific allergens as the best strategy for managing allergies, but made no recommendations for medication.
    The panel defined a food allergy as an “adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food." The panel also compiled forty-three recommendations as part of what panel-chair Dr. Joshua A. Boyce called an “important starting point toward a more cogent, evidence-based approach to the diagnosis and management of food allergy.” The NIAID list in intended for use b...


    Jefferson Adams
    Celiac.com 02/06/2015 - Australia is home to some of the most stringent gluten-free product standards in the world. Under current standards, all “gluten free" products sold in Australia must contain about three parts or fewer per million.
    The food industry would like the standard set at 20 parts per million, which would bring Australia into line with the United States, and the EU.
    Moreover, Coeliac Australia, a major celiac advocacy group, has suggested that Australia’s strict standards are becoming unworkable, as improved tests permit detection of smaller and smaller amounts of the gluten protein. The group has signaled an openness to the industry plan to lower the standards to 20ppm gluten content.
    Such a move would allow a much wider range of products to be sold in Australia as ...


  • Recent Activity

    1. - CatherineWang replied to B1rdL0ver's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      40

      Dealing with constant nausea and just feeling awful.

    2. - cristiana replied to BunnyBrown's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      3

      Recently had my esophagus dilated

    3. - cristiana replied to twe0708's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      54

      How Long Do Celiac Patients Live?

    4. - Exchange Students replied to Exchange Students's topic in Parents, Friends and Loved Ones of Celiacs
      2

      Exchange Students who are celiac in need of host

    5. - Scott Adams replied to Exchange Students's topic in Parents, Friends and Loved Ones of Celiacs
      2

      Exchange Students who are celiac in need of host


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      120,160
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    sandy32
    Newest Member
    sandy32
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.2k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Popular Now

    • Sunflowers06
      6
    • Momkaren
      10
    • Elizabeth M Blair
      5
    • B1rdL0ver
    • twe0708
      54
  • Popular Articles

    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
  • Upcoming Events

×
×
  • Create New...