Just starting a gluten free diet (or at least mostly gluten free). A couple questions regarding items that don't specifically say "gluten free." It would seem that items such as regular rice (say Minute Rice brand) or orange juice, etc. would be gluten free, even though they don't specifically say that. Is that correct?
To be called gluten free, must the food be made in a dedicated/certified facility? So are there a lot of foods (such as the above mentioned regular rice and orange juice) that are gluten free even though they don't say it? Obviously fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh etc. is gluten free, but I am wondering about these packaged/processed foods.
On the other hand, Rice Krispies has an ingredient called malt flavoring, and I heard malt has gluten. Is it correct that Rice Krispies has gluten?
Anyway, I will research these types of items, but thought I would get input from this discussion board too.
Thanks,
simple gluten questions for new member
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trialanderror
- Little Blue Penguin
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Usually, otherwise pure items such as plain rice , orange juice, etc., can be assumed to be gluten-free, (items that are normally expected to be gluten-free). However, there are sometimes exceptions where this is not true, due to cross-contamination issues during the growing process, handling, storage, and/or processing, (as in grains, for example), and unfortunately, many non-grain products also have this problem, simply because of cross-contamination. I suspect that this is a much more common problem than most people realize.
The standards used for gluten-free certification in this country are pretty much up to the discretion of the individual manufacturers, since the FDA has never established final gluten-free labeling regulations. The assumption is that the Codex Alimentarius standards adopted in Europe will eventually be accepted here, and the corresponding number, 20 parts per million, (20 ppm), is used by most companies as a voluntary reporting standard, as the maximum amount of gluten allowed in a product labeled as gluten-free. However, there are no official requirements of dedicated production lines, independent testing, etc. If a product is out of compliance with the GF limits stated on the label, I'm not aware of any official FDA enforcement policy that is in place - compliance is currently strictly voluntary. The FDA is trying to promote a requirement mandating that all products that are normally GF, must be labeled as GF, but that is absolutely ludicrous, because so many products contain cross-contamination that there is no way that manufacturers can legitimately certify them all as GF. That would be a bald-faced lie, in many cases.
Yes, all malted products contain gluten, which includes most breakfast cereals. However, a GF version of Rice Krispies has recently been developed, (based on brown rice), and it's available in many stores already. Like the Chex cereals, however, be sure to always read the label, to be sure that you are actually buying the GF version.
Tex
The standards used for gluten-free certification in this country are pretty much up to the discretion of the individual manufacturers, since the FDA has never established final gluten-free labeling regulations. The assumption is that the Codex Alimentarius standards adopted in Europe will eventually be accepted here, and the corresponding number, 20 parts per million, (20 ppm), is used by most companies as a voluntary reporting standard, as the maximum amount of gluten allowed in a product labeled as gluten-free. However, there are no official requirements of dedicated production lines, independent testing, etc. If a product is out of compliance with the GF limits stated on the label, I'm not aware of any official FDA enforcement policy that is in place - compliance is currently strictly voluntary. The FDA is trying to promote a requirement mandating that all products that are normally GF, must be labeled as GF, but that is absolutely ludicrous, because so many products contain cross-contamination that there is no way that manufacturers can legitimately certify them all as GF. That would be a bald-faced lie, in many cases.
Yes, all malted products contain gluten, which includes most breakfast cereals. However, a GF version of Rice Krispies has recently been developed, (based on brown rice), and it's available in many stores already. Like the Chex cereals, however, be sure to always read the label, to be sure that you are actually buying the GF version.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Here's a topic discussing rice and if it's GF: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10121
Gloria
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
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TooManyHats
- Rockhopper Penguin
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- Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:30 pm
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