Trader Joe's And The New Fda Law

[TGK112]

I was hoping with the new FDA labelling law that it would be easier to determine if Trader Joe's products are indeed gluten free. Many products have the "g" icon, and a statement "no gluten ingredients" - with a disclaimer that it was manufacturered on shared equipment.

 

Does anyone know the law well enough to tell me - does a label saying "no gluten ingredients" qualify as gluten free? (despite the disclaimer)

[Adalaide]

To my understanding, and someone may correct me if I'm wrong, but the statement "no gluten ingredients" is not the same as making a gluten free claim. The gluten free claim specifically uses the words gluten free. A perfect example of this is the way Frito-Lay has been doing things for as long as I've been at this. They have some items they list as gluten free. These they are making a specific claim about. They have many others that simply have no gluten ingredients but they don't make the gluten free claim for them. All of these products, both the gluten-free and the no gluten ingredients ones are run on the same lines with gluten containing items. The only difference for this particular company is testing. Each company may handle under exactly what circumstances they use the gluten free claim differently, but a shared line does not stop an item from being gluten free and not having gluten containing ingredients doesn't mean something is going to be automatically safe.

 

So the short answer is, sometimes but not always and if you want a definitive answer you'll have to call the manufacturer.

[RMJ]

This is from the FDA website:

Are statements like “made with no gluten-containing ingredients” or similarly “not made with gluten-containing ingredients” permitted on labels of foods bearing a gluten-free claim?

Yes. Neither the final rule nor FDA’s general food labeling regulations prohibit the use of a statement like “made with no gluten-containing ingredients” or “not made with gluten-containing ingredients” on any food products, provided that the statement is truthful and not misleading. However, unless the label of the food including such a statement also bears a gluten-free claim, consumers should not assume that the food meets all FDA requirements for a gluten-free food.

[SMRI]

I thought it was odd that TJ's didn't appear to have very many gluten-free options.  I didn't realize that it was mainly labeling issues.  We don't have one near us so I don't really shop there but I was at one last week and found very few things that were defiantly gluten-free.  I tried scanning a lot of things on my one app but most of their products don't show up on there either.

[TGK112]

Thank you for the responses. It seems, from the responses, that "no gluten ingredients" can be posted - but that doesn't necessarily make it gluten free. 

 

I've been disappointed with Trader Joe's. Everyone else seems to have jumped on the bandwagon. They  have so many products with "no gluten" - I wish they would test them and verify that they are gluten free.