Question About Prepackaged Foods

[smc]

Hi Everyone, Even though I have been gluten free for a little over 2 years I still dont really understand the gluten content in prepackaged foods. I recently transformed my kitchen from a shared kitchen to a 100 percent gluten-free kitchen and in doing so i have been buying more gluten-free snack foods for my husband and kids. I don't eat many snacks but if I decide to eat a cookie and the company says it tests for gluten at levels of 20 ppm what does that really mean? Is each cookie 20 ppm -or the serving size- or the box? So if I eat 3 cookies could I get sick? Hope you can help Thanks

[psawyer]

Parts per million is a ratio. It is like a percentage, except that percent is parts per hundred. It applies equally to any amount of the item in question, whether one small bite or the entire package.

Part of the dilemma is that you don't know for sure how many ppm there are. The company tests for 20 because there is a relatively easy and inexpensive test at that level. The actual product very likely contains far less--maybe even none at all.

Glutino make gluten-free products in a dedicated gluten-free facility, so there is minimal chance of contamination. They realize that accidents happen, so they test at 20 ppm, even though the products are expected to be very close to zero, if not actually zero.

[smc]

Parts per million is a ratio. It is like a percentage, except that percent is parts per hundred. It applies equally to any amount of the item in question, whether one small bite or the entire package.

Part of the dilemma is that you don't know for sure how many ppm there are. The company tests for 20 because there is a relatively easy and inexpensive test at that level. The actual product very likely contains far less--maybe even none at all.

Glutino make gluten-free products in a dedicated gluten-free facility, so there is minimal chance of contamination. They realize that accidents happen, so they test at 20 ppm, even though the products are expected to be very close to zero, if not actually zero.

Thank you ! That helps clear things up a bit!