Mentos

[Edward]

I emailed Mentos to see if Mentos are gluten and wheat free. This is the response:

The only raw material which is derived from wheat is the glucose syrup. The syrup meets the requirements for “gluten-free goods” as laid down in the Codex Alimentarius (CODEX STAN 117-1981/ max of 20 mg per kg). However, nearly all ingredients are derived from agricultural products and could be processed on equipment that also handles products containing gluten. Therefore Perfetti Van Melle does not actually claim that Mentos are gluten-free.

I don't get it. How can syrup from wheat be considered gluten free? I react to just a bread crumb or two, so would I react to 20 mg?

[mookie03]

I emailed Mentos to see if Mentos are gluten and wheat free. This is the response:

The only raw material which is derived from wheat is the glucose syrup. The syrup meets the requirements for “gluten-free goods” as laid down in the Codex Alimentarius (CODEX STAN 117-1981/ max of 20 mg per kg). However, nearly all ingredients are derived from agricultural products and could be processed on equipment that also handles products containing gluten. Therefore Perfetti Van Melle does not actually claim that Mentos are gluten-free.

I don't get it. How can syrup from wheat be considered gluten free? I react to just a bread crumb or two, so would I react to 20 mg?

I got the same response and assumed that meant they were not gluten free. I dont eat them anymore- and after eating them a lot in the past, i noticed how much better i felt now that i dont eat them-so i think they really were making me sick! But, there are plenty of mints that we can eat, so i just stick to those...i miss mentos though!

[celiac3270]

If it meets the CODEX standard, but contains wheat, it's probably "WHEAT STARCH," which is considered gluten-free in Europe.

[tarnalberry]

I emailed Mentos to see if Mentos are gluten and wheat free. This is the response:

The only raw material which is derived from wheat is the glucose syrup. The syrup meets the requirements for “gluten-free goods” as laid down in the Codex Alimentarius (CODEX STAN 117-1981/ max of 20 mg per kg). However, nearly all ingredients are derived from agricultural products and could be processed on equipment that also handles products containing gluten. Therefore Perfetti Van Melle does not actually claim that Mentos are gluten-free.

I don't get it. How can syrup from wheat be considered gluten free? I react to just a bread crumb or two, so would I react to 20 mg?

It doesn't mean you'd get 20mg - it means you'd ingest 20 milligrams if you ate 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). That's 0.0007 ounces of gluten (about 1/20th of a teaspoon) if you consumed a liter of glucose syrup. (BTW, that is the stricter of the two CODEX standards.) Most companies won't actually claim "gluten-free" to 0mg per kg, because that's not measurable with currently technologically determinable. There are many ways to process foods that remove gluten - such as distillation.

The cross contamination thing has me more worried.

[Margaret 1234]

I kept getting ill, and I have found out that it was being caused by  mentos mints. I had checked these before I ate them and it said they were gluten free..........  But I was horrified now to find  that they contained wheat. IT was misleading of mentos to say they were ok. Signed Margaret