Back In England For First Time Since Gluten Free

[Alex J]

I'm English, living in the US, going back to visit for the first time since my son was diagnosed with celiac. He also has severe allergies to nuts, fish and peas. And our baby has multiple (but less severe) food allergies.

As far as I understand it, the 'gluten free' label in the UK is not very helpful as it relates to the Codex Alimentarus (surely spelled wrong) which is 200ppm or less. We aim for zero gluten - don't use products made on shared lines, no gluten in the house, etc etc. 200ppm is way too much.

So I thought that it would be OK anyway, because under EU regs gluten was listed as an allergen that had to be clearly labelled - see here, where it says it must be clearly labelled even if it the source (eg wheat) has been treated to remove it:

Open Original Shared Link

So theoretically it could say 'gluten free, contains gluten' (ha ha, or not). But on further reading I'm not sure that's the case. For instance see here - though it does say gluten must be clearly labelled, it says glucose syrup derived from wheat wouldn't have to be labelled as containing gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

Having read through the site, it seems pretty clear all four gluten containing grains have to be clearly labelled, but not that clear whether this is the case if they have been treated to remove the gluten.

Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to proceed?

Or can anyone suggest a good brand of absolutely gluten free (and nut free) bread? Or of rice milk?

[gfp]

I'm English, living in the US, going back to visit for the first time since my son was diagnosed with celiac. He also has severe allergies to nuts, fish and peas. And our baby has multiple (but less severe) food allergies.

As far as I understand it, the 'gluten free' label in the UK is not very helpful as it relates to the Codex Alimentarus (surely spelled wrong) which is 200ppm or less. We aim for zero gluten - don't use products made on shared lines, no gluten in the house, etc etc. 200ppm is way too much.

So I thought that it would be OK anyway, because under EU regs gluten was listed as an allergen that had to be clearly labelled - see here, where it says it must be clearly labelled even if it the source (eg wheat) has been treated to remove it:

Open Original Shared Link

So theoretically it could say 'gluten free, contains gluten' (ha ha, or not). But on further reading I'm not sure that's the case. For instance see here - though it does say gluten must be clearly labelled, it says glucose syrup derived from wheat wouldn't have to be labelled as containing gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

Having read through the site, it seems pretty clear all four gluten containing grains have to be clearly labelled, but not that clear whether this is the case if they have been treated to remove the gluten.

Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to proceed?

Or can anyone suggest a good brand of absolutely gluten free (and nut free) bread? Or of rice milk?

I'll check out the rice milk, not something I use.

Supermarket bread you can get the DS loaves in supermarkets. They are wheat free and gluten-free and dairy free. They do contain Soya though.

As to labelling, READ EVERYTHING.....

While they should list allergens they often seem to manage to hide them.

I prefer to find a brand that states (for instance) glucose syrop from wheat and then find another prodct that doesn't or one specifies from corn/potato etc.

[nikki-uk]

I'm English, living in the US, going back to visit for the first time since my son was diagnosed with celiac. He also has severe allergies to nuts, fish and peas. And our baby has multiple (but less severe) food allergies.

As far as I understand it, the 'gluten free' label in the UK is not very helpful as it relates to the Codex Alimentarus (surely spelled wrong) which is 200ppm or less. We aim for zero gluten - don't use products made on shared lines, no gluten in the house, etc etc. 200ppm is way too much.

So I thought that it would be OK anyway, because under EU regs gluten was listed as an allergen that had to be clearly labelled - see here, where it says it must be clearly labelled even if it the source (eg wheat) has been treated to remove it:

Open Original Shared Link

So theoretically it could say 'gluten free, contains gluten' (ha ha, or not). But on further reading I'm not sure that's the case. For instance see here - though it does say gluten must be clearly labelled, it says glucose syrup derived from wheat wouldn't have to be labelled as containing gluten:

Open Original Shared Link

Having read through the site, it seems pretty clear all four gluten containing grains have to be clearly labelled, but not that clear whether this is the case if they have been treated to remove the gluten.

Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to proceed?

Or can anyone suggest a good brand of absolutely gluten free (and nut free) bread? Or of rice milk?

My best advice like Steve says in his post above is READ all labels....doNOT just rely on the allergen box, do NOT rely on 'safe for coeliacs' statement either (as can contain codex levels)

If anything in the ingredients is derived from wheat...run for the hills!!!!!

My recommendation for a gluten-free nut free bread would also have to be the Dietary Specials loaves available in the 'free from' shelves in most supermarkets and for rice milk my preferred is Provamel.

Don't hesitate if you have any more questions