Hi All,
I'm not sure whether this is good or bad. It's good, in that it will allow more products to be labeled as gluten free, but it's bad, in that most of the new products will contain tiny amounts of gluten.
As part of the labeling requirement of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect in 2006, a definition of "gluten-free" has been developed for voluntary use on product labels, and it will become effective in August. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and highly refined oils are excluded, but a manufacturer of any other processed food, may put "gluten-free" on its label, if the product contains less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.
You may also be interested to know that new retail labeling guidelines will go into effect in the fall, regarding the country of origin of beef, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish, fruits, vegetables and peanuts. Pursuant to the change, the label information must state whether a product comes from the United States only, foreign sources only, or is of mixed origin. Of course, restaurants, cafeterias, caterers, food stands, and a few other small businesses, are exempt from this regulation.
Note that this change does not apply to processed foods, (the country of origin label change, that is). After this change, it will be rather easy to be confused and misled by food labels that are not governed by these guidelines, since they may result in very misleading labels that do not accurately reflect where individual ingredients are grown and processed. For example, a candy bar that is labeled "Product of France" may actually contain peanuts from anywhere in the world.
Also, remember that prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications are not governed by any of these regulations, (including the original 2006 Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act), but work on these regulations is claimed to be in progress. IOW, as it now stands, with any pharmaceuticals, (prescription or OTC), the active ingredient must be accurately stated on the label, but manufacturers are not required to specifiy the individual ingredients that make up the "filler", or inactive ingredients. Many of them do, but they do this voluntarily, it's not a part of the official FDA regulations.
The beat goes on - each time the label laws are fine-tuned, there are enough exceptions, and exemptions, that the "upgraded" regulations always perpetuate a certain degree of confusion.
Now, each of us will have to decide just how sensitive to gluten we are, so that we can determine whether individual "gluten-free" foods are actually sufficiently "gluten-free" that they are safe for us. It seems that the more that conditions are changed, the more they remain the same. <sigh>
Tex
A Change In Food Labeling Will Occur In August, In The U. S.
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A Change In Food Labeling Will Occur In August, In The U. S.
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.
