Celiac.com 07/10/2017 - For anyone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance who was wondering how well food manufacturers are complying with FDA standard for gluten-free labeling, or wondering exactly how gluten-free is my gluten-free food, some early answers are in, and the news looks good.
A recent report by the agency indicates that the vast majority of food manufacturers are getting it right, and, correcting where they do get it wrong.
Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
The FDA's final rule for compliance in gluten-free labeling was August 5, 2014. To gauge compliance in gluten-free food labeling, the agency conducted a sampling assignment of products labeled "gluten free" from July 2015 to August 2016.
The compliance testing is an important part of the FDA's mission to ensure that products labeled on or after the compliance date are properly labeled as "gluten-free."
In all, the agency's team analyzed more than 250 types of products, and tested 702 individual samples in the categories of cereals, grain bars, and flours.
Their complete survey showed that just five samples from one product source contained gluten in excess of the regulatory limit of 20 parts per million (ppm). That left the overall gluten-free product-based compliance rate above 99.5 percent.
The good news here is that producers major gluten-free food products are doing a very good job of following FDA labeling standards. Also, the manufacturer of the samples that showed gluten levels above 20 ppm carried out a voluntary recall, conducted an extensive root cause analysis, and immediately implemented additional corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
Follow-up testing by the FDA showed acceptable levels of gluten.
This is the first hard data the FDA has gathered regarding compliance with gluten-free labeling standards. To see such high levels of compliance and responsiveness by manufacturers is encouraging.
Read the Analytical Results of FY2015/16 Gluten-Free Food Product Sampling. SOURCE: FDA.gov
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