Labeling Of Gluen Free - Confusion

[Glutenfree4her]

We have been on this gluten free path since February of this year. Initial blood work came back at 141. Six month check blood work at 55 which I think is awesome. Now I feel more confused with the food shopping then when I first started. For example grocery stores employees won't say it's gluten free unless it's on the label saying gluten free. Yet a lot of items don't say gluten free but the listed ingredients I read on it doesn't have gluten in them. Also it doesn't say processed on machinery that could have been contaminated. So are the safe to purchase? I understand liability issues for the stores in saying they are okay but as a mom new to this I am not sure which way to go! Thanks for your advice.

[psawyer]

Most mainstream manufacturers will not put "gluten-free" on a label for legal reasons. They don't put any gluten in the product intentionally, but they buy ingredients from third parties. They don't test them for gluten content, and neither do their suppliers. So, they won't make a published "gluten-free" claim lest they be found liable for an error by one of their vendors.

All the major food manufacturers take care to clean between batches and to keep ingredients apart. I am comfortable with that, and understand why they won't put a "gluten-free" label on their products which are, in fact, gluten-free--just not verified so by testing.