New Gluten Free Labeling Law

[Jess07]

I'm highly sensitive to any gluten, milk, or soy. And with the new 20ppm gluten free labeling law, how are we supposed to tell what is and isn't gluten free if the label says it's gluten free?

[psawyer]

A true gluten-free claim is impossible.

Scientifically you can not prove the absence of any substance, whether it be gluten, arsenic, cyanide, or rodent droppings. You can only test a sample, which is not 100% of the total. Your test has a sensitivity, below which the substance being tested for can not be detected.

When a supplier says that their product passes a test at 20ppm (or 200ppm), this does not mean that there are 19ppm (or 199ppm) of whatever in their product. It merely means that the level at which they have tested to confirm the absence of gluten has a test tolerance at that level. As I said, no test can ever be 100% certain. As the testing and sampling become, respectively, more comprehensive and more sensitive, the cost goes up dramatically.

Zero gluten content, supposing it could be proven, would be "less that 200 ppm" and "less than 20 ppm" as those are upper limits. The actual content could be much lower, but it cannot be proven to be so.

[KelBelle]

I'm highly sensitive to any gluten, milk, or soy. And with the new 20ppm gluten free labeling law, how are we supposed to tell what is and isn't gluten free if the label says it's gluten free?

I am extremely sensitive as well. I have made the difficult decision that I will not purchase anything that is produced in a facility containing gluten. I figure that is the only way to drastically reduce the chances of cross contamination. It is very frustrating. The more whole foods the better I guess.