Something I Find Annoying

[tennisman]

Recently I have been getting very annoyed at food companies . Why can't all food companies put Gluten Free or Not Gluten Free on their labels ? I mean it's very simple all it takes is 10 letters it's not difficult . Could you imagine how easy it would be to go shopping and find out if an item of food is Gluten Free or not in 1 second without having to read every single ingredient.

I am going to write a letter to some big food companies , and include videos or websites about Celiac Disease and ask them if it will be possible to start labelling more products with Gluten Free or not Gluten Free I mean they can write suitable for vegetarians so why can't they write Gluten Free on the labels ?????

Has anyone else written to food companies asking them to label more products ?

[celiac-mommy]

I haven't, but I've called companies to thank them for their labeling or reformulating!

[GlutenFreeManna]

I think some companies don't want to do it because of liability reasons. No gluten ingredients used does not always mean gluten free. Also in some countries if they claim something is gluten free they have to do testing to back up that claim. The US doesn't currently require testing, but I know other places do.

I get around this by just eating mostly whole unprocessed foods that are naturally gluten free. There's no need to pick up a bunch of bananas and try to figure out if it has gluten in it.

[jenngolightly]

I also think they don't do it for commercial reasons. People are wary of "gluten free." Don't you have relatives who turn up their noses when they hear you're bringing a "gluten free" dish for a meal? I think that regular people don't understand that many things are naturally gluten-free. It might make them think twice about buying something. They think: gluten free? That probably doesn't taste as good as this non-gluten-free variety.

It's a matter of educating the population. But if we can't even educate Aunt Glenda, can you imagine how hard it's going to be to educate the rest of the world?

[jerseyangel]

At this point in the US, there isn't a true legal definition of "gluten-free". I much prefer when manufacturers clearly list any gluten in the ingredient list and if the product is processed on the same lines as those with gluten.

[ravenwoodglass]

That's why I will not move anyplace that doesn't have a Wegmans. They make shopping so easy for us. I have never had a CC reaction from any of their products and if I see the circle G I know the item is safe. I don't know why other companies don't do the same thing unless it is the liability issue or they just source their ingredients from places they are not sure of.

[psawyer]

There is a requirement in the USA and Canada (and likely most other places) that a label not be misleading.

To label something gluten-free implies that gluten-free is a factor which distinguishes this particular product from similar products. If the nature of the product is that it is inherently gluten-free, and all products of that type are gluten-free, then it is misleading (and illegal) to label it as gluten-free. You can have gluten-free pasta, gluten-free baked goods, gluten-free gravy, and so forth.

You can not, however, have gluten-free apples, gluten-free milk, gluten-free butter or gluten-free rice. Such products are allowed to say either:

"Xxxx is a gluten-free food." or

"This xxxx, like all xxxx, is gluten-free."

Where "xxxx" is the product type (not brand), for example "quinoa".

[Juliebove]

I can see why people wouldn't want to put gluten-free on their labels. Cross contamination is highly likely. And many companies package their food on shared lines or in a facility that uses all sorts of ingredients. In such a case they would not want to use the gluten-free label even if the product is gluten-free in and of itself. Yes, I know some companies do this but I can see why they wouldn't want to.

[tennisman]

Thanks for all the replies.

Today I bought some Haribo sweets , even though I have had these sweets many times before ( but not for a few weeks ) I checked the ingredients and the Haribo still looked Gluten Free. But there was no " Gluten Free " on the packet. So I checked my Celiac book of what's Gluten Free and found out the Haribo was definitely Gluten Free Later I checked the Haribo website and it says Gluten Free.

Why can't they put this on the packet ? It's so annoying if they can put it's Gluten Free on there website why can't they put it on the packet ?

[GFinDC]

Thanks for all the replies.

Today I bought some Haribo sweets , even though I have had these sweets many times before ( but not for a few weeks ) I checked the ingredients and the Haribo still looked Gluten Free. But there was no " Gluten Free " on the packet. So I checked my Celiac book of what's Gluten Free and found out the Haribo was definitely Gluten Free Later I checked the Haribo website and it says Gluten Free.

Why can't they put this on the packet ? It's so annoying if they can put it's Gluten Free on there website why can't they put it on the packet ?

Good question. Maybe you could send them a an email and ask their reason.

[tennisman]

Good question. Maybe you could send them a an email and ask their reason.

I will do that If the company can put Gluten Free on there website than they can put Gluten Free on the packet . It's time for a change