Allergen labeling standards

[Sunshine99]

Two questions about food labeling, first is more general, the second is about a specific item:

1)What can be done to advocate for better food labeling standards? New to celiac in the last year and have discovered that the allergen warning labels don’t always include gluten ingredients that aren’t specifically wheat, for instance barley. I assume there has already been advocacy done in this area but I’d like to know more about it. 

2) I’ve come across a recent example if anyone can shed light on this or help direct me in how to advocate for more accurate allergen labels: Dean’s French Onion Dip lists Brewers yeast as an ingredient, and the label also says gluten free. According to National Celiac Association, Brewers yeast is not gluten free as it is derived from Barley. 

[RMJ]

Here is some more information about brewer’s yeast from a dietician who advocates for proper gluten free labeling.  Per her advice it would be ok because it is labeled gluten free.  However, some companies mislabel their food, not knowing where gluten can hide.

Brewer’s yeast and gluten

[Sunshine99]

  On 1/30/2022 at 4:44 PM, RMJ said:

Here is some more information about brewer’s yeast from a dietician who advocates for proper gluten free labeling.  Per her advice it would be ok because it is labeled gluten free.  However, some companies mislabel their food, not knowing where gluten can hide.

Brewer’s yeast and gluten

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Thank you for this information and the link to the article, this is helpful. It also led me to click on the author, Tricia Thompson, to learn more about her advocacy for food labeling, and I found her article and excellent information on the Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2021 for this exact issue. I am thrilled to see this is being advocated for and the bill was introduced to the House in August of 2021. I’ve googled it to see the results but to me it looks that nothing has been done other than being introduced. Do you, or anyone else, know more details about this, and do we continue to stay informed about this Food Labeling Modernization Act (FLMA). If I had known I would have contacted my local representative. These are the kind of things you don’t hear about in the news and I would like to learn more about how to stay abreast of this issue. 
 

It’s a very informative piece and gives me hope and motivation. I highly encourage others to check it out: https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/lets-make-some-noise-everything-you-need-to-contact-your-members-of-congress-asking-them-to-support-the-food-labeling-modernization-act-of-2021/

[Scott Adams]

Here are some recent articles we've done on current labelling proposals: