Frito-Lay to Begin Labeling Gluten-Free Products

Raging Against the Gluten-Free Fad

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In a recent article on the Science 2.0 blog titled “Celiac: The Trendy Disease for Rich White People”, a blogger named Hank Campbell rants and raves about the current gluten-free, or as he sees it, celiac disease fad. He begins, “Are you white and a little resentful that black people get their own cool disease, sickle cell anemia? There is good news for you. Celiac disease is all the latest rage and you can be any color at all and claim it”. He keeps this tone up throughout the entirety of the piece: he is bitter, but it would seem that he is bitter about the general behavior of “liberals”, rather than fad dieters specifically.

While Mr. Campbell is likely just a grumpy old man who we shouldn't pay any heed to, his views seem to echo certain opinions within the celiac disease community. Many celiac sufferers do (often justifiably) feel that the “fad” status of the gluten-free diet has robbed them of their credibility: they feel that even though they HAVE to adhere to a gluten-free diet to stay healthy, they now run the risk of being perceived as fad dieters (by people like Hank Campbell). Hank mentions “real Celiac victims”, but it's almost as if he doesn't believe they exist, because he seems to think that a meaningful number of people are not just adopting the gluten-free diet, but pretending they have celiac disease. The brunt of his critique falls on the 'fad celiac disease sufferer', if such a thing even exists. I am sure he would have you believe is the majority of people on the gluten-free diet right now.

The problem with Mr. Campbell's writing (and really, his opinion) is that he is raging against a stereotype that I am not sure exists. Who is pretending they have celiac disease? He spends a lot of words trying to prop up a straw man, and to what purpose, I'm not really sure (some commentators have posited that he has a political or pro-vaccine agenda). But he is minimizing the fact that celiac disease is a real disease and many people HAVE to abide by a gluten-free diet in order to preserve their health. It is not a “trendy disease for rich white people”.

The real message we should be taking away from Mr. Campbell is that celiac disease is ultimately a disease, not a club. The gluten-free diet may be experiencing an explosion right now, but when you think about how hard of a diet it is to stick with, the reality is that many of these fad dieters will quickly lose interest and drop it anyway. Ultimately, the “gluten-free fad” is only helping the celiac community, as more people than ever are getting diagnosed. It is hard not to be embittered by people who adopt a gluten-free lifestyle halfheartedly, and only to stroke their own egos, but that will pass, and if it helps more people get diagnosed, that is very positive thing.

Source:

Open Original Shared Link

Portland Mayor Declares "Gluten-Free Beer Day"

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last month, Portland, Oregon mayor Sam Adams declared May 16th to be Portland's “Gluten-Free Beer Day”, falling within what has come to be considered Celiac Awareness Month by many celiac organizations. The declaration seems to be borne of equal parts enthusiasm for Portland brewing culture, and concern for celiac disease awareness. A number of gluten-free brewers attended the official ceremony at Portland City Hall, including Omission Beer, Deschutes Brewery and Harvester Brewing.

Sam Adams (of no relation to Samuel Adam's Beer, ironically) gave a statement that was not unlike a public service announcement. He cited common celiac disease statistics and facts: 1 in 133 Americans have celiac disease, more than 95% of celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, gluten-free diet is the only treatment for the disease, etc. He went on to reason that since Portland is home to over 50 craft breweries, many of which already produce gluten-free beer, Portland should have an official day to spread celiac disease awareness among breweries and beer-drinkers.

Source:

Open Original Shared Link

Frito-Lay to Begin Labeling Gluten-Free Products

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In a much-needed move toward reliable labeling of gluten-free products, Frito-Lay has commenced an effort to test, verify, and eventually label its already gluten-free products. As one of the largest food manufacturers in the world, Frito-Lay (and PepsiCo, its parent corporation) is well-positioned to make a significant difference in the lives of Americans with gluten sensitivities (the initiative is exclusive to products in the U.S.).

Celiac disease sufferers should be wary of putting too much trust in this labeling effort though. As evidenced by the recent Open Original Shared Link surrounding Domino's “gluten-free” pizza crust, gluten-free is not standardized terminology (though the NASSCD is trying to Open Original Shared Link) and gluten-free is becoming a popular, i.e. profitable market.

Unlike Domino's offering though, it would seem that Frito-Lay is doing a thorough job of substantiating their gluten-free claim. They are working with the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program to test both ingredients and finished products for the presence of gluten. Any products containing less than 20ppm of gluten off the manufacturing line (in accordance with the FDA's Proposed Rule for Gluten Free Labeling) will soon be labeled as gluten-free.

It still remains to be seen how their labeling scheme will be rolled out, but looking at their website's Open Original Shared Link, they currently separate their products into two varieties of products for gluten-conscious customers. They are describing their verified and tested (less than 20ppm) products as gluten-free, and their untested, 'kind of' gluten-free (potentially manufactured on gluten-contaminated lines) products as “Products Not Containing Gluten Ingredients”. The website makes it pretty clear what the two designations mean if you read the accompanying text, but there is room for concern if they attempt a labeling scheme that obscures the reality of the products. One would hope they will only label the tested and verified products, and leave the untested ones as they are, to be found by gluten-conscious (but not deathly allergic) customers who have done their research.

Frito-Lay seems benevolent enough, with at least some concern and regard for the celiac population, so hopefully the labeling scheme will reflect this. In addition to their labeling effort, they have partnered with the Celiac Disease Foundation and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness to commence a celiac disease awareness initiative. It will utilize Frito-Lay's partnerships and social media channels to provide educational content in English and Spanish, hopefully reaching the undiagnosed and unaware portion of the estimated 21 million gluten-sensitive Americans.

Source: Open Original Shared Link