Tropical Source Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

[Nicole H.]

So Ive been eating these chocolate chips because I saw they said gluten free. Then one day I was studying the package and noticed that it said less than five ppm. Are they still safe to eat or shall I find other chocolate chips?

[psawyer]

Let's consider two situations.

Company A labels their product as gluten-free, but do not do any testing to verify that cross-contamination has not taken place.

Company B tests, but of course no test can check for zero. Practical testing at reasonable cost will detect 5 ppm of gluten. They test, and say so on their label.

Which product is safer?

[tarnalberry]

lol, Peter, I love your response. So true.

Nicole, however, is new, so I assume that she has not seen our endless debates and threads on testing foods for gluten, and is not familiar with the issue. So, Nicole, I do hope you read what Peter wrote as he intended it, and not with a tone of snark.

He's right - it is not possible to test for nothing of something. Not to that degree of sensitivity for any reasonable amount of money for food processing, and never completely without destroying the whole sample. It's actually more common to see testing to 20ppm, so 5ppm is great, in my book!

[psawyer]

Thanks, Tiffany, for clarifying that. We have discussed this at great length here. I should have expanded for the benefit of a relative newcomer.

And, given the hypothetical choice I cited, I would probably choose the one tested for 5 ppm. As Tiffany noted, 5 ppm is a very low test threshold for a commercially available food item.

Nicole, I would happily continue using the chips.

[Nicole H.]

Thanks, Tiffany, for clarifying that. We have discussed this at great length here. I should have expanded for the benefit of a relative newcomer.

And, given the hypothetical choice I cited, I would probably choose the one tested for 5 ppm. As Tiffany noted, 5 ppm is a very low test threshold for a commercially available food item.

Nicole, I would happily continue using the chips.

haha, thank you both! I will eat the chips with love now! thanks for the responses and now I know about 5 ppm!

[ravenwoodglass]

haha, thank you both! I will eat the chips with love now! thanks for the responses and now I know about 5 ppm!

Only a very, very small number of us would react to a level that low. I would continue to enjoy them but if you start having issues then stop for a while and then try them again and see if the same thing happens. Most of us would have no problems with them.