Article From Kraft On Their Gluten Labeling Policy

[celiac3270]

I found this link to a Kraft article, a two-page adobe article that extensively deals with their labeling policy and takes you through how you would read the label of three products. The first two have obvious sources of gluten, such as "enriched wheat flour" or "barley malt", but the last one is a cheese topping that only has gluten in the artificial flavors. You can see the labeling policy in action, there, with the parentheses after the flavors. Here's the link--it took me a little longer to load, but it's worth reading, especially for newbies or people who aren't aware of the policy:

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[kvogt]

This is excellent news! Kraft always seems to be out in front of other food providers in terms of meeting our needs. I will patronize them whenever possible.

I also believe other food providers will have to match or exceed this labeling technique to remain competitive in our market. This can only be good for us!

[celiac3270]

This is excellent news! Kraft always seems to be out in front of other food providers in terms of meeting our needs. I will patronize them whenever possible.

I also believe other food providers will have to match or exceed this labeling technique to remain competitive in our market. This can only be good for us!

I know, I love Kraft. It sounds like FritoLays is trying to do something for celiacs...it's a big step that they now write "naturally free of gluten" on some of their products. Let's hope the other companies compete for our business.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Kraft rules...

They will definitely get my business!!!

[KaitiUSA]

I love Kraft too....I depend on these products so much. I'm going to email them or something and tell them how awesome they are for their gluten policy

[angel-jd1]

I agree, Kraft is awesome. I feel very safe when I pick up their products. I don't have to second guess them. I LOVE KRAFT!!!

-Jessica

[Canadian Karen]

I think that the Canadian Celiac Association or American Celiac Association (or both) should have a yearly award to present to the company who most exhibits willingness to properly label their products and thus make our lives easier. It makes us feel like we are being recognized, and not ignored, when a company does something like this. KRAFT, YOU ROCK!!!

Karen

[kvogt]

I called CSA some months ago and suggested this. They could not have cared less. I found their attitude - arrogant.

[celiac3270]

Yup...they're not the most well-liked celiac group...Richard doesn't like them at all, either

[JJL]

Interestingly enough, Kraft have violated their own stated policy in the body of this document. Supposedly they will declare all gluten-containing ingredients with the plain-English name of the gluten-bearing grain, right?

But if you look at the Graham crackers label that is one of their examples, it says "Graham flour". That's it. Maybe it's made from Graham grains? In fact, I don't even know what Graham flour is made from, but I suspect it's something that can hurt me, because Kraft themselves bolded it as a gluten-containing ingredient in this press release!

(Of course, the gluteny ingredients won't be bolded in the actual food labels. That would be WAY too helpful. I would say, if Kraft really wanted to be helpful it wouldn't kill them to just print "contains no gluten" or a big "gluten-free" somewhere on the package. But their idea of helpful is to basically release a statement that says "we care about our celiac customers, so read the labels just as carefully as you ever did before."

This isn't the first time I've heard of Kraft pretending they care about their customers and doing something that indicates the exact opposite, by the way. Back in the day, they told more than one concerned Jewish customer that Jell-O was kosher, and to this day they declare it kosher. But Jell-O has been denied kosher certification several times, most likely because it's made out of pig skin. You can make kosher gelatin. You can even make kosher gelatin out of the dry bones of unkosher animals. But you cannot, in any way, turn pig skin into something kosher. So, after a lot of noise about the subject and scandalized reports in all the Jewish communities, Kraft went and found the only two rabbis in the world who would state that the basic ingredients of the Jell-O were so radically transformed in the manufacturing process that it was magically turned kosher, and they put their own little K on the label, blithely burying the whole issue and continuing to tell people how deeply they respect the Jewish faith and people.

(Note - the company's explanation of pigskin transformation may make perfect scientific sense - I'm not blasting them on that count. But in religious terms, it's complete nonsense. Jewish sages of various traditions disagree on a lot of things, but there has never been any debate about this. Pig skins are treyf, and always will be treyf. How much you transform them is a total non-issue. They aren't kosher, period. Imagine if the same company told you, regarding bread crumbs, "these aren't bread, they've been magically transformed. We just call them crumbly particles now. Not bread. Go on, eat it!" Wouldn't fly, would it?)

BTW, "Graham flour" is just whole wheat flour.

[celiac3270]

Good point, but don't they say that they won't hide gluten in the ingredients? For example, if it's in modified food starch, they use parentheses. And graham flour is on the forbidden list, so they're not hiding under a questionable ingredient.

https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-13105527776.47 (graham flour is next to "germ")

[KaitiUSA]

They won't hide anything in their ingredients. Graham flour is different the regular flour I guess. They were not hiding anything they clearly listed graham flour which as celiac3270 said is also on our forbidden list. Kraft is an awesome brand I do agree it would be easier if they just listed their products as gluten-free if they are but they really do make life easier as it is now because it just involves reading a label to know whether it is safe or not.

[lambchop]

This isn't Kraft, but I called Yoplait yesterday about their natural and artificial flavorings to see if it was gluten based. They said that General Mills will always put wheat or grain products under the "contains" area of the package - they list any type of allergy ingredient in this area. The "contains" area is under the ingredients listing.

Leslie

[KaitiUSA]

Yeah General Mills is a good brand for listing gluten as well I eat Yoplait all the time

[JJL]

I guess a "we won't hide the stuff" policy is better than no policy at all. But I really wish the big companies would just come out and put a "contains gluten" note somewhere in there, just like the "may contain peanuts/milk/tree nuts" warnings that are found everywhere these days. It would make things a whole lot easier.

It sounds like that is exactly what General Mills are doing. I never noticed them doing that before. Good job, GM!

[celiac3270]

I agree--that would be amazing...a simple "gluten-free" on the box would save them the trouble of having to have these complicated labeling policies, anyway.

[Nadtorious]

I've seen the labels that say "contain", followed by any common allergens in the food. I've gone on to read the full ingredient list and seen "barley malt", or something similar. Do food companies not recognize the whole spectrum of "gluten", or do they just list food allergens? I know wheat is usually listed, but have never seen "contains barley" as a warning for allergic customers.

Nadia

[JJL]

Most people don't really understand gluten or why it should be labelled. I think the average person, if s/he has heard of celiac, thinks of it as a wheat allergy.

Big food companies have learned through experience that they have to protect themselves against suits from allergic customers. But they only do this for the most common allergies, which makes sense.

But people are learning about celiac lately, and I think we'll see much better labelling in the near future, especially as more and more celiacs are being diagnosed and the medical establishment starts to recognise this as a serious problem.

[kvogt]

It's not as simple as we would all like it to be. "Gluten" is a somewhat generic term we use to describe the collection of wheat, rye and barley proteins that bother us. There is gluten in other grains as well, like oats and corn. You will sometimes see the "corn gluten" on an ingredients label. To just say "gluten" could be confusing to others with say corn allergies.

Until the government defines "gluten free" I personally don't want various food manufactures using their (probably self serving) definition. We need a concise, clear definition that means the same on any ingredients label we read.

I think Kraft is lining up with what the official definition and policy will finally be. I think bolding graham flour is perfectly fine. I don't think their asking too much for us to know what graham flour is... and if it is too complex, we can tell them and ask them to parenthesize it.

jjl, I think your judgement is clouded by the kosher issue.

[KaitiUSA]

If all companies would do what Kraft does I would be happy. As long as it is listed on the label I can live with it.

[plantime]

I am happy with the way Kraft labels their products! I read the entire ingredients label myself, regardless of what is in bold print on the label. As long as the suspicious ones are clearly identified, I can handle it.

[Guest ajlauer]

When I had my daughter tested for food allergies, they did a test of the 20 most common allergens for children. Personally, I'd like to see those 20 items listed in the "may contain...." allergy warnings. Aside from wheat, rye, barley, and oats... I also have to watch out for corn, eggs, and nuts. And during her food challenge, watch out for dairy too. It not so easy anymore to feed a 4-yr old child, previously spoiled rotten, who has been known as "Princess Cookie Monster". I figure if those 20 items they tested her for are common allergies in children, that should be good enough reason to have stricter labeling guidelines for those items.

[Guest ajlauer]

When I had my daughter tested for food allergies, they did a test of the 20 most common allergens for children. Personally, I'd like to see those 20 items listed in the "may contain...." allergy warnings. Aside from wheat, rye, barley, and oats... I also have to watch out for corn, eggs, and nuts. And during her food challenge, watch out for dairy too. It not so easy anymore to feed a 4-yr old child, previously spoiled rotten, who has been known as "Princess Cookie Monster". I figure if those 20 items they tested her for are common allergies in children, that should be good enough reason to have stricter labeling guidelines for those items.

[Tucson]

Hi, Trader Joe's has a nice brochure listing all of their gluten-free products, but it's hard when you are standing in the store to read it all. So, when I got home, I read the label of a coffee creamer they produce, and sure enough, it has "modified food starch" in it.

Who would think a creamer would contain wheat too!!

It boggles my mind how much wheat is out there in everything we eat.....maybe that is the problem of obesity in America!! Everyone is eating too much wheat!

I did call STAGGs chili and they were very aware of the gluten-free problem, and she listed products that i CAN eat and the two chili products that contain Gluten. She was very knowledgeable and encouraging.

Many of the "Modified food starch" labels don't specify that it's "corn" starch, but they will qualify it if you CALL the COMPANY yourself!

Still learning,

Judy

[celiac3270]

Modified food starch doesn't have to be made of wheat. It is sometimes gluten-free, sometimes not...you just have to check.