Spice Safe Ingredient

[diesel]

With the new labeling regulations do they have to list in () behind spices if they contain wheat, rye, barley, or oats? Or do I need to call the manufacturer to find the source of the spice?

[psawyer]

In the USA, under FALCPA legislation, wheat must be explicitly declared if present in a packaged food product. There are two different ways that a label can do this.

a) Wheat can be named as an ingredient, or can be named in parentheses after the name of another ingredient;

OR

There can be a "Contains: Wheat" statement following the ingredient list, in type at least as large as the ingredient list.

Many manufacturers do both, but the law does not require both--one will suffice.

Wheat must be disclosed, but barley, rye and oats can still hide. Having said that, the only one of those that actually does hide is barley. It can be hidden in flavor, but usually is revealed as "malt" in some form. Barley malt is a relatively expensive flavor, so manufacturers have an incentive to make its presence known.

In my experience, "spice" or "spices" have never been found to contain gluten. "Seasoning" is a whole 'nother matter.

[diesel]

Thank you so much for your time and answer! I'm new to this and am learning more every day.

In the USA, under FALCPA legislation, wheat must be explicitly declared if present in a packaged food product. There are two different ways that a label can do this.

a) Wheat can be named as an ingredient, or can be named in parentheses after the name of another ingredient;

OR

There can be a "Contains: Wheat" statement following the ingredient list, in type at least as large as the ingredient list.

Many manufacturers do both, but the law does not require both--one will suffice.

Wheat must be disclosed, but barley, rye and oats can still hide. Having said that, the only one of those that actually does hide is barley. It can be hidden in flavor, but usually is revealed as "malt" in some form. Barley malt is a relatively expensive flavor, so manufacturers have an incentive to make its presence known.

In my experience, "spice" or "spices" have never been found to contain gluten. "Seasoning" is a whole 'nother matter.