Gluten Free Certification Enforcement Aug 2014

[Celiac Ninja]

The Gluten Free Certification Organization is finally heard by the FDA and this August 2014 the law for gluten free labeled food and beverages must meet below the 20ppm (parts per million) standard or they will be relabeled (to not have a gluten free or certification label) or removed from the shelves. It took 10 years for the GFCO (Gluten Free Certification Organization) to be heard by the FDA.

 

 

Go get 'em FDA! I'm tired of getting glutened!

 

 

 

[BlessedMommy]

That's great that they are strengthening the standards!

 

I wonder, though, how are they going to enforce that?

 

It seems that there wouldn't be enough man power to go investigate every food that carries a gluten free label.

[dilettantesteph]

It further complicated by a lack of accurate testing: Open Original Shared Link

 

"The results demonstrate that current gluten analysis methods cannot accurately quantify prolamines in all food matrices and further work is needed to improve the reliability of gluten quantification."

[LauraTX]

In a perfect world, they would be on things proactively, but that is usually not the case.  Generally a complaint has to be filed, takes them a while to look into it, they send a cease and desist, etc etc.   Just think about all those dangerous weight loss supplements that come out and make millions before the FDA throws the hammer at them... I speculate it will be a similar pace to that.  Of course, in the case of gluten-free mislabeling, there seem to be many smaller companies labeling their product with many claims with ignorance to what they actually mean, so hopefully most issues will not get to the point where the FDA has to force them to close, and it will be cleared up with the first contact.  

[StephanieL]

It further complicated by a lack of accurate testing: Open Original Shared Link

 

"The results demonstrate that current gluten analysis methods cannot accurately quantify prolamines in all food matrices and further work is needed to improve the reliability of gluten quantification."

Yeah, that!  

 

I think manufacturers are just going to repackage rather than actually keep the gluten-free claim and worry about being "caught" but the non existent government regulators

[bartfull]

The best solution then is to continue to eat whole foods, and when a gluten-free treat is in order, buy from the "good guys" we already trust - Udi's, Canyon Bake House, Against the Grain, etc.

[LauraTX]

The best solution then is to continue to eat whole foods, and when a gluten-free treat is in order, buy from the "good guys" we already trust - Udi's, Canyon Bake House, Against the Grain, etc.

I fully agree.  I will still go with a trusted brand over something questionable every time.

[BlessedMommy]

^Exactly!

 

My CSA produce has no confusing labels on it.