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  • Scott Adams
    Scott Adams

    FDA Rules All Distilled Alcohol is Gluten-Free

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Manufacturers of distilled foods and beverages can now label their products as gluten-free, even if made from gluten ingredients.

    FDA Rules All Distilled Alcohol is Gluten-Free - Image: CC BY-SA 2.0--theowoo
    Caption: Image: CC BY-SA 2.0--theowoo

    Celiac.com 08/19/2020 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that distilled foods and spirits made from gluten-containing grains can be labelled as ‘gluten-free.’ The FDA ruling covers fermented and distilled foods, or foods that contain fermented or distilled ingredients, which are made using gluten-containing grains such as rye, barley and wheat. The ruling changes the previous FDA requirement that distilled products labeled "gluten-free" must contain no gluten ingredients from start to finish.

    The change was hailed by Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus), who said: “We commend FDA for this consumer-friendly ruling that will allow ‘gluten-free’ labelling claims to be included on distilled foods made from gluten-containing grains, and urge TTB to act swiftly to align policies allowing the same for distilled spirits products."

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    Text of the new FDA ruling reads, in part:

    "[D]istillation is a process capable of separating gluten and other proteins from the remaining compounds...distillation must remove all protein (and thus gluten), regardless if the product has been distilled from gluten-containing grains.

    [Distillation] removes gluten because gluten does not vaporize. Therefore, there should not be any gluten remaining in the final distilled product. For this reason, a distilled product labeling may bear a “gluten-free” claim and should be safe for people with celiac disease to consume."

    The change means that manufacturers of distilled foods and beverages can now label their products as gluten-free without explanations about their gluten removal process.

    Gluten-free marketing has long been an issue of contention among regulatory bodies, people with celiac disease, and experts, with most scientists agreeing that the distillation process removes gluten from the final product. Health professionals and celiac support groups, like Celiac.com, and Coeliac UK, have long advised that distilled spirits are gluten-free and safe for celiacs on a gluten-free diet.

    Swonger said that “Allowing distillers to include a "gluten-free" statement on products made from gluten-containing grains will provide additional clarity for consumers to make informed choices about which products meet their dietary needs.”

    The rule will take effect on September 14, 2020.

    Resources:

    Edited by Scott Adams



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    Scott Adams

    Distillation removes all traces of grains...I don't doubt that recovering celiacs my not tolerate many things until their gut heals, however, drinking distilled spirits made from grains should not cause flattened villi or trigger celiac disease.

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    trents

    Okay folks, let's treat each other with respect in our replies. There is a right way and a wrong way to express your disagreement with someone.

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    Lucille Cholerton
    5 hours ago, trents said:

    What is this new machine you speak of? Can you be more specific and do you have any links?

    This link is worth reading Open Original Shared Link

     

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    trents
    53 minutes ago, Lucille Cholerton said:

    This link is worth reading Open Original Shared Link

     

    Kind of dated information. I hope this new machine you speak of gives better results than personal gluten sensors like those put out by Nima which were kind of a bust.

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    Scott Adams

    Nima sensors are definitely not a bust...they are highly accurate and there is nothing comparable to them on the market. This article has more info:

     

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    trents

    Scott, I disagree. This is what I read the other day: Open Original Shared Link

    Seems like the Nima sensors are only reliable when the amount of gluten present exceeds the accepted standard of 20 ppm. If I understand the article correctly, Their accuracy is pretty good once you get up to about 40 ppm. That would not be good enough for a lot of Celiacs.

    Edited by trents
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    Scott Adams

    Well the article you post here basically complains that it is too sensitive and it detects Gluten at lower than 20 ppm… I think most people here would think that’s a good thing not a bad thing, and it says the following (which indicates that it is still a very good tool to have with you when there is really nothing else available like it): “Nima is substantially more accurate at 40 parts per million and above, with an accuracy rate of 98.7 percent; so if a sample contains large amounts of gluten, Nima should be able to alert users with a “gluten found” result.”

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    Gemini
    1 hour ago, trents said:

    Scott, I disagree. This is what I read the other day: Open Original Shared Link

    Seems like the Nima sensors are only reliable when the amount of gluten present exceeds the accepted standard of 20 ppm. If I understand the article correctly, Their accuracy is pretty good once you get up to about 40 ppm. That would not be good enough for a lot of Celiacs.

    Trents.......I second Scott’s statement about Nima being far from a bust.  I bought one and used it to test how reliably it would work.

    It does what it states.......it detects gluten and is sensitive to 20ppm’s.  We all know that in current medical standards, that is the amount that is considered acceptable for Celiac’s to consume (20ppm or less), that will not trigger an autoimmune reaction.  That is probably the most reliable number we have right now and the fact that many, many Celiac’s heal just fine with those standards, it is the one Nima has.  

    I tested a bunch of soups from Whole Foods because I like soup.  These are ones on the hot buffet line. I am sure some will gasp at that but soup is different than other buffet foods in that they are self contained and have their own, dedicated ladles for use.  The ones I were told that had no gluten ingredients tested negative for gluten, after two separate tests.  Each time I bought them they tested negative.  I ate them and felt just fine with no ill effects at all.  Some different soups that I bought tested positive so my husband ate them.  I did the same for some prepared chicken breasts I bought that had no gluten ingredients listed on the label.  They tested positive, which surprised me, so my husband ate them.  Every time I used Nima to test for safety, it worked well and saved me from a glutening.  Have to say, I like it!  It does help that Whole Foods lists all ingredients in their prepared foods.  While this offers no protection against cc, this is where the Nima comes in.

    As I am a sensitive Celiac with extreme symptoms and know when I have ingested gluten on small levels, and have been doing this for 15 years, I consider this a helpful device and it has not failed me once.  I have healed and am doing fine.  Many people are very guarded and have anxiety in the beginning, which is normal, but will find that they do not have to fear food forever. Once they become knowledgeable about the diet and reading labels, they will learn that gluten does not exist everywhere and they can eat foods that seemed off limits to them in the beginning.  They also have to keep in mind that we usually have other food issues too, which can make it hard to distinguish where a problem is coming from.  I have no doubt some people have reactions to alcohol made from gluten grains. But it may not be a gluten reaction that causes damage to the small intestine, as Scott stated. I can drink milk in small amounts. But if I have more than a 1/4 cup of ice cream, I feel like crap and my intestines ache. Sort of the same thing, without the gluten. Ditto for other milky things, no matter what it is.  You never know what you will end up with, dealing with Celiac.  We all seem to have unique tolerance levels to different things.

    I am thankful for Nima and and think that very soon, more accurate testing will be developed that won’t cost a fortune to do. We are lucky to have small businesses that are trying to help us with that.

     

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    trents
    13 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

    Well the article you post here basically complains that it is too sensitive and detects Gluten at lower than 20 ppm… I think most people here would think that’s a good thing not a bad thing, and it says the following (which indicates that it is still a very good tool to have with you when there is really nothing else available like it): “Nima is substantially more accurate at 40 parts per million and above, with an accuracy rate of 98.7 percent; so if a sample contains large amounts of gluten, Nima should be able to alert users with a “gluten found” result.”

    In your first sentence, did you intend to say, "too insensitive"? Might be a typo there. Otherwise I can't make sense of it. Yes, the Nima sensor is better than nothing and would be adequate I suppose for many Celiacs who are not real sensitive.

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    Guest Daisy

    I got a reaction from drinking rye.

     

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    Guest Renee

    I definitely get very sick ( GI problems, severe migraine) drinking distilled alcohol made from gluten. 
    Before I was even diagnosed with celiac and thus reacted to gluten, I knew I could drink Tanqueray and feel fine but if I drank Bombay I was very sick. Tanqueray is not made from wheat and Bombay is. 
    This is terrible news for very sensitive Celiacs! 

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    docaz
    2 hours ago, Guest Renee said:

    I definitely get very sick ( GI problems, severe migraine) drinking distilled alcohol made from gluten. 
    Before I was even diagnosed with celiac and thus reacted to gluten, I knew I could drink Tanqueray and feel fine but if I drank Bombay I was very sick. Tanqueray is not made from wheat and Bombay is. 
    This is terrible news for very sensitive Celiacs! 

    In order to have a somehow normally functioning society, if all restrictions are based on the few exceptions instead of the large majority, the system collapses. Obviously the FDA has the task of protecting as many people as possible but if only medications or devices would be approved that have 0 complications, then nothing would get approved. Therefore acknowledging that the distillation process gets rid of gluten is great news for the large majority because it takes the fear away and whoever is very sensitive, needs to make adjustments accordingly. This is the case anyway because the FDA recognizes something as gluten-free if it has less than 20ppm gluten content but very few people appear to react to as little as 5ppm but the FDA does not want to overburden the industry and causing a big price increase for already more expensive products and accepts the higher limit.  

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  • About Me

    Scott Adams

    Scott Adams was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1994, and, due to the nearly total lack of information available at that time, was forced to become an expert on the disease in order to recover. In 1995 he launched the site that later became Celiac.com to help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed so they can begin to live happy, healthy gluten-free lives.  He is co-author of the book Cereal Killers, and founder and publisher of the (formerly paper) newsletter Journal of Gluten Sensitivity. In 1998 he founded The Gluten-Free Mall which he sold in 2014. Celiac.com does not sell any products, and is 100% advertiser supported.


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