FDA Supports Food Allergen Labeling Bill

The House of Representatives has, once again, acknowledged celiac disease. It has passed the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the NIH. The report language detailed below was included in that legislation. This language serves as guidance from Congress to the NIH to focus on certain issues (in this case celiac disease). A special round of thanks is due Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) for her tireless efforts on behalf of the celiac community. Further thanks go out to Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH), Chairman, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education, for his leadership on this important bill.
We now wait to see what happens with the Senate version of the funding bill, and whether it is passed before the Congress...

Celiac.com 01/25/2007 - Under an FDA proposal published yesterday, food companies will have to meet new standards before labeling their products as gluten-free. It also provided a new definition for gluten-free which will give individuals with celiac disease greater confidence that specially labeled foods are in fact, safe for them to eat, according to the American Celiac Disease Alliance (ACDA).
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) passed by Congress in 2004, requires food manufacturers to clearly state if a product contains any of the eight major food allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, and soy. It also required the FDA to develop and implement rules for using the term ‘gluten-free’ on food packaging.
Adhering to ...

Celiac.com 07/23/2008 - Folks who follow a gluten-free diet can take comfort that the Codex Alimantarius, the international body responsible for setting food safety standards, has moved a step closer to adopting the gluten-free standards they drafted in November 2007, and their new standards are, for the most part, in-line with the proposed FDA regulations. However, those hoping for speedy adoption of similar standards by the FDA will just have to wait until the FDA takes one last round of public comment and evaluates safety standards used in developing the standards. Certainly, anticipation has been running high, as several blogs and otheronline sources have wrongly claimed that the new FDA standards will go intoeffect in August 2008.
From June 30 to July 5, 2008, the Codex Alimentarius...