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Ingredients / Labeling

Confusing Gluten-Free Product Labels

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Do you ever get confused by the variety of labels on products these days? If you spend time looking for gluten-free products, you’ll probably see a large variety of labels, ranging from any of the following:

  • Gluten-Free.
  • Wheat Free/No Wheat
  • Made in a gluten-free facility.
  • Made in a gluten-free facility that also processes nuts.
  • Made in a gluten-free facility that also processes grains.

I’ve always found this confusing and sometimes frustrating, and apparently, I am not the only one. The cohort at gluten-free Cookie Federation has shared thoughts on this very subject:

So, you’ve noticed all the variants on all the packages….What does the CookieFed consider GF? Basically if they make a stab at it and label it GF and it doesn’t make us sick we’ll consider it GF. I can’t say that I have come across any GF labeled stuff that made me sick, but I have eaten a number of things that did not have any ingredients containing gluten that did make me sick (various cerials, frozen dishes, ice creams etc.).

But my favorite confusing label is “No Wheat. Not gluten-free.” Why bother saying no wheat if you have the gluten?

I don’t think there is any doubt that this system is better than it was even 3 years ago, but there is always room for improvement.   What would you change about the current product labeling system to help make things easier for Celiacs?

Glucose Syrup is Gluten-Free

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 8 Comments

Is glucose syrup considered to be gluten-free? If you aren’t familiar with it, glucose syrup is a liquid sweetener found in many candies and other desserts that contains wheat starch. Obviously, anything with “wheat” in the name throws up some red flags to anyone following a gluten-free diet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it contains wheat.

As a result, over the past year or so there has been some debate over whether glucose syrup is considered to be gluten-free or not, so Sure Foods Living recently spoke with a dietitian to find out some additional information. In their post, they shared their findings, and I thought our readers would probably find this information useful, so I am providing a small excerpt:

Glucose syrup can be derived from a variety of starches including wheat. Corn is the most common however Europe uses wheat more frequently. The glucose syrups are highly processed and purified and R5 elisa tests have found the majority to contain very little residual gluten if any. The European Food Safety put out a report on the safety of glucose syrups. Here is the link for more info:

wheat-based glucose syrups

Based on the FDA proposed gluten-free labeling regulation a product can be derived from a gluten-containing grain such as wheat based glucose syrup and be labeled gluten-free yet the ingredients could say glucose syrup (wheat) provided it is under 20 parts per million (ppm). This will be very confusing for patients as we teach them to avoid wheat and yet a product like glucose syrup may have no or very little residual gluten and be labeled gluten-free.”

Click over to read the entire post!

Gluten-Free Diet: Do You Eat Oats?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I’m sure most if not all of our readers are following a gluten-free diet, so I’d like to get your thoughts. Do you eat oats?

There has been a lot of discussion about oats and where they fit into the gluten-free diet over the last few years, so the only real safe thing to do is to avoid oats when you start out and later introduce them once you’re comfortably on the gluten-free diet.

According to What to Feed Your Kids:

Whether to include oats on a gluten-free diet is controversial. Many oats are not gluten-free because of crop rotation – the same soil is used to grow wheat one season and oats the next. There are oats which are specially grown to be gluten-free, but according to Wikipedia even the gluten-free oats contain avenin (a protein very similar in molecular structure to gluten) that is “toxic to the intestinal submucosa and can trigger a reaction in some celiacs.”

Studies regarding people with celiac and their ability to tolerate oats are mixed. Some studies show celiac sufferers can tolerate oats which are free from contamination, but a possible reason for this conclusion is that those who can’t tolerate oats end up dropping out (biasing the sample) midway through the study.

There is also new research indicating a molecular basis for oat intolerance in patients with celiac disease. People with celiac who have the DQ8 gene seem to tolerate oats better than those with the DQ2 gene. I have the DQ2 gene so I don’t include any oats in my gluten-free diet. The Celiac Sprue Association tends to have zero tolerance risk profile and “recommends that excluding oats is the only risk free choice for those on a gluten-free diet.”

Click over to check out the rest of this post! Also, we’d love for you to share your experiences. Are you able to eat oats?

The Truth About Celiac Disease and Oats

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

There is a big question about whether people diagnosed with Celiac Disease can eat oats. Some studies suggest they cannot and others say they can. So who is right? The short answer is, they both are.

Oats do not contain the protein gluten the way wheat, barley, and rye do. So, if oats do not contain gluten, why should a person with Celiac Disease need to avoid oats? There are two reasons.

First, oats are often grown in close proximity to wheat and barley, both of which contain gluten. In addition, farmers rotate their fields so oats are often grown in the same soil wheat and barely have been grown on. Farmers also use the same equipment for the oat, wheat, and barley crops. This creates cross-contamination. So even though gluten is not found within the oat, it is on it and this can be just as harmful to a person with Celiac Disease. If oats were grown completely away from wheat and barley and farmers dedicated their equipment to only the oat fields, they should be gluten-free. It is possible to buy “uncontaminated’ oats from vendors who ensure their oats have not come into contact with gluten. But that does not mean that every person with Celiac Disease can start eating “uncontaminated” oats.

The second reason a person with Celiac Disease may need to avoid oats is that they may also have a sensitivity to avenin, the protein found in oats. Numerous studies have shown that a number of people with a sensitivity to gluten also have a sensitivity to avenin. Thus, when pure oats are consumed, they still exhibit the same symptoms as if they had eaten gluten. One study done in Norway found that even people who ate “uncontaminated” oats and didn’t show physical symptoms, still showed inflammation in their intestines. This study was done with a small number, 9, individuals, so the results are not 100% conclusive.

The bottom line, talk to your healthcare professionals if you think you might want to add oats to your diet. Most healthcare professionals recommend having your Celiac Disease under control before even attempting to add oats. Even then, they recommend eating just a small amount. The key is to make sure you are closely monitored.

You can read more about the Norway Study on WebMD.com.

Gluten-Free Labeling Information

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

Back in January 2007, the Food and Drug Administration made some changes that were designed to help those following a strict gluten-free diet. Basically, the FDA made changes requiring more accurate labeling of products so that those on a gluten-free diet can make educated decisions while shopping.

Here is some information I ran across from the FDA regarding food labeling/reading:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, Docket No. 2005N-0279, titled “Food-Labeling: gluten-free Labeling of Foods” (72 FR 2795). Included in the proposed rule is a definition established by the FDA for the term “gluten-free” for voluntary use in the labeling of foods. A definition for the term “gluten-free” would assist those who have celiac disease (also know as celiac spue or gluten-sensitive enteropathy) and their caregivers to more easily identify packaged foods that are safe for persons with celiac disease to eat. Celiac disease occurs in genetically susceptible individuals and causes damage to their small intestine when they consume gluten found in “prohibited grains.” Celiac disease has no cure, but avoiding the consumption of gluten can resolve its symptoms, mitigate and possibly reverse damage, and reduce associated health risks. This proposed rule has been prepared in response to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, Title II of Public Law 108-282, enacted on August 2, 2004, which directs the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to propose, and later make final, a rule that defines and permits the use of the food labeling term “gluten-free.”

The FDA is proposing to define the food labeling term “gluten-free” to mean that a food bearing this claim does not contain any of the following:

  • An ingredient that is a “prohibited grain,” which refers to any species of wheat (e.g., durum wheat, spelt wheat, or kamut), rye, barley, or their crossbred hybrids;
  • An ingredient (e.g., wheat flour) that is derived from a “prohibited grain” and that has not been processed to remove gluten;
  • An ingredient (e.g., wheat starch) that is derived from a “prohibited grain” that has been processed to remove gluten, if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 micrograms or more gluten per gram of food, or 20 micrograms or more gluten per gram of food.

Some additional information from the FDA regarding labeling.

A food that bears the claim “gluten-free” or a similar claim (e.g. “free of gluten,” “without gluten,” “no gluten”) in its labeling and fails to meet the conditions specified in the proposed definition of “gluten-free” would be deemed misbranded.

Currently, there is no Federal regulation that defines the term “gluten-free” used in the labeling of foods. Based upon comments FDA received during its public meeting on “gluten-free” food labeling held in August 2005 and other information available to the Agency, there is no universal understanding among U.S. food manufacturers or consumers about the meaning of a food labeled as “gluten-free.” FDA believes that establishing a definition for the term “gluten-free” and uniform conditions for its use in the labeling of foods will ensure that persons with celiac disease are not misled and are provided with truthful and accurate information.

For your reference, a document titled “Questions and Answers on the gluten-free Labeling Proposed Rule” has been prepared by FDA and is now available online.

Obviously, the change ended up being made and now you should find more accurate labeling on products found at your local grocery store.   When you are reading labels, you’ll want to not only avoid anything with gluten, but you’ll also want to avoid any foods that were processed on equipment with wheat, peanuts, etc due to cross-contamination concerns.