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Showing results for tags 'wheat starch'.
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Is DiGiorno Gluten Free Pizza Really Gluten-Free?
Scott Adams posted an article in Additional Concerns
06/20/2024 - Update: DiGiorno Gluten Free Pizza was reformulated, and is now 100% gluten AND wheat-free. Gluten-free wheat starch is no longer used in the product, and I can say that the new forumula tastes outstanding! This excellent gluten-free pizza is widely available, and I get it at Target. Original Article: 05/24/2021 - Shortly after DiGiorno released their gluten-free frozen pizza, the controversy began. Many people with celiac disease began to complain that the pizza caused celiac-like symptoms. Some pointed to wheat starch as a potential culprit. DiGiorno's frozen gluten-free pizza is made with "gluten-free" wheat starch. The FDA considers wheat starch to be “an ingredient processed to remove gluten.” DiGiorno Gluten-Free Pizzas contain the following ingredients: Water, Wheat Starch*, low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese (cultured part-skim milk, salt, enzymes), tomato paste, Parmesan, Asiago and Romano cheese blend (cultured part-skim cow's milk, salt, enzymes), 2% or less of vegetable oil (soybean oil and/or corn oil), modified rice starch, sugar, salt, psyllium fiber, spices, dried garlic. CONTAINS: WHEAT*, MILK. *The wheat starch has been processed to allow this food to meet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for gluten-free foods. Is DiGiorno's wheat starch gluten-free to FDA standards? Foods made with wheat starch may be labeled gluten-free as long as the final food contains below 20 parts per million gluten. Fermented foods and ingredients made with gluten-free wheat starch can be labeled gluten-free. So, wheat starch is not a problem by itself. Codex wheat starch, often referred to as “gluten-free wheat starch,” has had the gluten washed out to levels under 20 ppm, and has been considered safe for decades in Europe for people with celiac disease. The Codex quality wheat starch used by Schaer to make Schaer gluten-free croissants is gluten-free to below 5ppm, so high quality gluten-free wheat starch is commercially available. Also, wheat starch itself is not considered by FDA to be a fermented or hydrolyzed food. Although, products made with hydrolyzed wheat are subject to a different labeling rule for hydrolyzed foods. Basically, if the wheat starch used by DiGiorno contains hydrolyzed wheat, then it should not be labeled gluten-free. Nima Sensor Test Results Indicate DiGiorno May Not Always be Gluten-Free To get to the bottom of the problem, we went out and bought a few DiGiorno Gluten Free Four Cheese frozen pizzas at different times so that they came from different batches. We cooked the pizza according to directions, and tested two cooked pizzas using a Nima sensor, which has been shown to be accurate at detecting gluten in products down to 20ppm. For the test, we used only a fresh, spongy piece of crust from the center of a piece of curst, with no other ingredients on it. One of our tests registered positive for gluten, and the other test, which was on a different batch of pizza, tested negative. Possibility 1: Some or all of DiGiorno's gluten-free pizzas are not gluten-free. Perhaps DiGiorno is using wheat starch that does not meet Codex gluten-free standards, and some of their wheat starch contains gluten above 20 ppm. That means some of their wheat starch is not gluten-free below 20 ppm, and so the pizzas would reflect that. Possibility 2: Our Nima Sensor is wrong and gave a reading in error, and DiGiorno is gluten-free, but according to Nima the sensor is very accurate, and can detect gluten in such products without issues. Possibility 3: The wheat starch used by DiGiorno contains hydrolyzed wheat starch, and depending on the testing being done, it is creating misleading test results, for example, When testing starch for residual gluten, test-maker R-Biopharm recommends competitive R5 ELISA, which detects gluten that has been broken apart by processing procedures, such as hydrolysis, rather than sandwich R5 ELISA, which is used to quantify intact gluten protein. However, competitive R5 ELISA also has some limitations. It's doubtful that Nestle would use hydrolyzed wheat starch in this product because it could not legally be labelled gluten-free. Actions We reached out to DiGiorno to find out if they are using Codex wheat starch in their gluten-free pizza, and if they are regularly testing their ingredients and/or final product to ensure gluten-free status. We have yet to hear back from the company, but will update this article as information becomes available. At this time, we don't recommend DiGiorno's "gluten-free" frozen pizzas for people with celiac disease or serious gluten sensitivity.- 43 comments
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Celiac.com 05/24/2022 - A new gluten-free wheat starch from Sweden could help to improve gluten-free baking options for people with gluten-intolerance and celiac disease. Lantmännen Biorefineries has announced the launch of its new gluten-free wheat starch. Produced with wheat from Sweden's autumn wheat harvest, the company promises a gluten-free wheat starch "with good baking properties that do not affect the final product’s taste," says Lars Franzén, head of food ingredients at Lantmännen Biorefineries. Compared to other starches, wheat starch offers numerous baking advantages. It provides the proper elasticity, and helps to stabilize bread structure and texture. Without wheat starch, gluten-free bakers often have to try to mirror these qualities using other ingredients, such as hydrocolloids and fibers. Gluten-free wheat starch allows bakers to use the same baking formulations for gluten-free goods as they use for traditional baked goods. Because it's gluten-free, it's safe for people with celiac disease. The gluten-free wheat starch has been approved for sale and gluten-free labeling, and will be first debut exclusively in the Nordic region, and in northern Europe, where demand for gluten-free food products is high. There's currently no word on if, or when, this new gluten-free wheat starch will be available in the U.S. People with celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis who are very sensitive to even trace amounts of gluten may want to avoid products that use wheat starch, as Celiac.com has received many complaints about products that utilize gluten-free wheat starch. Stay tuned for more on this and related stories. Read more at Foodingredientsfirst.com
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Celiac.com 06/02/2021 - Under the FDA’s 2013 Rule on Gluten-Free Labeling of Fermented or Hydrolyzed Foods, wheat starch is considered “an ingredient processed to remove gluten.” Wheat starch is an allowed ingredient in foods labeled gluten-free as long as its use does not result in the final food product containing 20 parts per million or more of gluten. The FDA clarified the rule to require food manufacturers to ensure that products containing fermented, hydrolyzed ingredients meet the definition of “gluten-free” before fermentation or hydrolysis. While fermented foods and ingredients made using gluten-free wheat starch as a starting material can be labeled gluten-free, wheat starch itself is not considered by FDA to be a fermented or hydrolyzed food. What Gluten Free Products Use Wheat Starch? Although gluten-free wheat starch has been approved by the FDA, there is still a great deal of skepticism about it. We recently reported that wheat starch is an ingredient in DiGiorno's Gluten Free Pizzas. Wheat Starch Long Used in Europe In Europe, the use of wheat starch in gluten free foods has been rigorously tested, with no evidence that foods made with gluten-removed wheat starch are harmful to people with celiac disease. Companies like Schär has been using it for over 20 years, with more than 90% of the wheat starch used by Schär testing below 5ppm, under ELISA. Wheat Starch Controversial in US However, because the use of wheat starch in gluten-free foods is still hotly debated in the US, even Schär only uses it in their Gluten Free Croissants, and a handful of other products in this country. Because wheat starch is controversial in the US, Celiac.com puts wheat starch on our Unsafe and Forbidden Foods and Ingredients list. Find more information on Celiac.com's Safe Gluten-Free Foods list. For the most part, wheat starch can be considered a safe ingredient for celiacs, as long as it is labeled gluten free. As always, read labels, avoid ingredients that disagree with you, and choose wisely.
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