Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

European gluten-free Labeling Change


kenlove

Recommended Posts

kenlove Rising Star

New gluten-free labelling could mean extra costs for bakers

By Lindsey Partos, 23-Jan-2009

New rules from Brussels implemented this week on the labelling and formulation of gluten-free foods could signal a rise in costs for the bakery industry.

Under the new European regulation ushered in through the official journal on Tuesday, only foods that contain less than 20 parts of gluten in a million will be allowed to use the term 'gluten-free' on their packaging.

For the food industry, the new rules from Brussels represent a distinct departure from current protocol. Manufacturers have looked to the Codex international standard for gluten-free foods that states any foods using the term 'gluten-free' had to have less than 200 parts of gluten per million of finished product - a figure that represents ten times the quantity imposed by the new EU rules this week.

Market

Gluten, the common name for the natural proteins found in wheat, barley and rye, can provoke a reaction in consumers suffering from coeliac disease.

In recent years the food industry has increasingly targeted this 'free-from' arena, with figures from market analysts Mintel demonstrating the overall 'free-from' market has already enjoyed annual sales growth of over 300 per cent since 2000.

Stricter rules

"The new lower limit of 20 parts in a million means greater peace of mind for people with a gluten intolerance, as they can be sure that foods sold as 'gluten free' do not contain levels that could be harmful to them," commented Sue Hattersley, head of food allergy policy at the UK's Food Standards Agency.

Tightening labelling criteria even further, under the fresh European legislation some foods made using cereals that have been specially processed to remove most of the gluten, but which contain less than 100 parts of gluten in a million, will be able to make the claim 'very low gluten' on the packaging. These include substitutes of certain staple foods such as bread.

Manufacturers can use the new labelling system immediately, but products do not have to comply with the new rules until 1 January 2012.

Labelling

Adoption of the European regulation may require some re-labelling of products, and consequently some costs to business. The claims which this regulation controls are voluntary claims in order to allow manufacturers to clearly highlight one particular property of their product to the consumer.

Many products that are specially manufactured to be gluten-free already make such claims, so no re-labelling would be required.

But products specifically processed to slice away their gluten content may need to be re-labelled as 'very low gluten' to comply with the new regulation. In addition, the ordinary foods that manufacturers wish to label to indicate suitability for coeliacs may also need to be relabelled to comply with the new regulation.

The FSA estimates such re-labelling costs could be up to


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      127,788
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Cookieldy
    Newest Member
    Cookieldy
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121k
    • Total Posts
      70.4k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • K6315
      Hi Lily Ivy. Thanks for responding. Did you have withdrawal? If so, what was it like and for how long?
    • trents
      Welcome to the forum, @Doris Barnes! You do realize don't you that the "gluten free" label does not mean the same thing as "free of gluten"? According to FDA regulations, using the "gluten free" label simply means the product does not contain gluten in excess of 20 ppm. "Certified Gluten Free" is labeling deployed by an independent testing group known as GFCO which means the product does not contain gluten in excess of 10 ppm. Either concentration of gluten can still cause a reaction in folks who fall into the more sensitive spectrum of the celiac community. 20 ppm is safe for most celiacs. Without knowing how sensitive you are to small amounts of gluten, I cannot speak to whether or not the Hu Kitechen chocolates are safe for you. But it sounds like they have taken sufficient precautions at their factory to ensure that this product will be safe for the large majority of celiacs.
    • Doris Barnes
      Buying choclate, I recently boght a bar from Hu Kitchen (on your list of recommended candy. It says it is free of gluten. However on the same package in small print it says "please be aware that the product is produced using equipment that also processes nuts, soy, milk and wheat. Allergen cleans are made prior to production". So my question is can I trust that there is no cross contamination.  If the allergy clean is not done carefully it could cause gluten exposure. Does anyone know of a choclate brand that is made at a facility that does not also use wheat, a gluten free facility. Thank you.
    • trents
      @Manaan2, have you considered the possibility that she might be cross reacting to some food or foods that technically don't contain gluten but whose proteins closely resemble gluten. Chief candidates might be dairy (casein), oats (avenin), soy, corn and eggs. One small study showed that 50% of celiacs react to CMP (Cow's Milk Protein) like they do gluten.
    • Manaan2
      I realize I'm super late in the game regarding this topic but in case anyone is still reading/commenting on this one-does anyone who is especially sensitive have their personal observations to share regarding Primal Kitchen brand?  My daughter was diagnosed almost 2 years ago with celiac and within 6 months, her follow up labs were normal and a year later vitamin levels significantly improving, but we are still battling GI symptoms; particularly, constipation, so much that she has been on MiraLax every day since she was 3.  We've managed to get her down to a half cap every other day but without that, she continues to have issues (when she has a known, accidental ingestion unfortunately it takes a lot more MiraLax and additional laxatives to help her).  I was searching for something else and found this and am wondering if anyone has any specific comments regarding Primal Kitchen.  I feel like we are so incredibly careful with diet, logging diet and symptoms to look for patterns (we've had multiple dieticians help with this piece as well), not eating out, contacting companies and of course, there is always room for improvement but I'm running out of ideas regarding where her issues could be coming from.  Even if the Primal Kitchen is contributing, I'm sure it's not the only thing contributing but I can't help but think there must be handful of things that are working together and against her.  The ingredients list distilled white vinegar, but also white wine vinegar and balsamic, then "spices" which I'm always cautious about.  However, after contacting the company, I felt more comfortable allowing her to consume their products but over time I've realized that the front-line customer service support people don't always provide the most accurate of information.  Thanks for reading to anyone that does.   
×
×
  • Create New...