Can I Trust Food Lables

[whattodo]

I used to be a keen oat eater. On reading more about Celiac diets it has been said that oats may have gluten in them. With the brand I used to eat I actually rang up the company who made them and asked them if their oats had gluten in. He said that there was gluten in them but very very little. On following my instincts I stopped eating them and bought a new oat's brand that says it is gluten free.

My question is, can i trust packaging of some brands, is it possible for them to say they are gluten free but actually have some sort of cross-contamination?

[Worriedwife]

The oats themselves may be considered gluten free (which I believe is still a debateable question), but cross contamination may come from how they are processed. If they are processed on the same equipment used for items that contain gluten, then you may glutened despite your careful choices. The label does not always indicate how it was processed. The safest thing is to contact the company to verify that they are truly safe.

[Juliebove]

The ones I have that say gluten free are done by a dedicated grower who oversees all steps of production to make sure they are not cross contaminated. They are also tested and proven gluten free.

[tarnalberry]

There are a handful of farmers in the US and Canada that produce truely gluten-free oats, and you'll likely have to order them online and they aren't cheap. But they are not grown in fields rotated with wheat, or processed/packaged in shared facilities.

Keep in mind, however, that about 10% of celiacs react to the protein in oats as well, as it is similar to gliadin, so if you experience symptoms even on gluten free oats, that may be why.