20 Ppm

[LauraWass]

Hi,

I have a 2 year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. A lot of the boxes of crackers I see in the store say that the production sample has been run to ensure that there is 20ppm or less of gluten. I know that is a very small amount, but I am worried that if she keeps eating them over time, the small amount will eventually lead up to a large amount and then she will get sick or do damage to her intestines. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks! Laura

[ravenwoodglass]

It is your call but I wouldn't touch those. When a company states that something tests out at less than 20ppm to me that means that the item is made with gluten grain ingredients that they believe are at a small enough level so that most of us will not react. I do not consider any level of gluten to be safe. I would find another cracker that is made without gluten ingredients. Glutino makes one that is also soy and dairy free and if you can tolerate soy Ener-g makes a great saltine type cracker.

[missy'smom]

I agree with ravenwoodglass. I have reacted to a product that was tested down to 5ppm. It was a dry product made on share lines that were cleaned under allergen control procedures.

[gfp]

There are studies saying 20ppm is safe, personally as they are funded by the food industry I prefer to remain sceptical...

More directly I know I react to the 20ppm stuff... if not immediately as you say over time it seems to build up... and in some ways be worse than a big glutening because of the way it creeps up and by the time you put your finger on it your in such a bad shape it takes longer to recover.. just my 2c though

[Phyllis28]

I put these back on the shelf.

[ChemistMama]

I believe a lot of companies will be removing the 'gluten free' labels from their products in response to the decisions the FDA will be making this year about the defintion of 'gluten free'.

Open Original Shared Link

is the full text, here's their FAQ page:

[url="Open Original Shared Link

Is the FDA proposing claims for foods which are naturally gluten-free?

Yes. FDA is proposing that with the exception of a food made from oats, any food that is naturally free of gluten may bear the claim "gluten free" provided both of the following requirements are met:

* The wording of the claim clearly indicates that all foods of the same type, not just the brand bearing this labeling claim, are gluten-free (e.g., "milk, a gluten-free food," "all milk is gluten-free"); and

* The food does not contain 20 ppm or more gluten.

Yoplait would have to put on their labels 'all yogurt is gluten free', and I think they would have to test their product also. Some companies don't want to go through that. I'll be watching this legislation veeeeeery closely.

[kbtoyssni]

* The wording of the claim clearly indicates that all foods of the same type, not just the brand bearing this labeling claim, are gluten-free (e.g., "milk, a gluten-free food," "all milk is gluten-free"); and

While I understand that the intention is not to lead people to believe it's just this brand of milk that's gluten-free, I do not like the ALL wording. Say you put "All chicken is gluten-free". Well, that's mostly true, except the chicken that's plumped up with chicken broth. Or in the case of yogurt, you have no idea because of different flavorings. I feel like someone who doesn't know enough about the diet to not realize that milk is naturally gluten-free is going to be the type of person misled by this type of statement.

[irish daveyboy]

Hi,

I have a 2 year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. A lot of the boxes of crackers I see in the store say that the production sample has been run to ensure that there is 20ppm or less of gluten. I know that is a very small amount, but I am worried that if she keeps eating them over time, the small amount will eventually lead up to a large amount and then she will get sick or do damage to her intestines. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks! Laura

Hi 'Laura Wass',

The standard of 20ppm is applied to all Gluten Free products including Naturally Gluten free flours

like Rice, Tapioca, Corn etc.

ELISA testing has a lower limit of 20ppm, BUT it is possible that a lot of flours or products have in actual fact 'Zero' ppm but this can't be claimed because there is no testing that is that accurate.

A base line of 20ppm or < has been adopted as the criteria in describing a product or substance that is Gluten Free.

Attached is a PDF format letter from ELISA Technologies to that effect.

Open Original Shared Link

.

You can obtain more information by using Codex 20ppm as a search criteria.

.

Best Regards,

David