dcubed

Very interesting indeed. And even if the FDA chose to test odds are very high that the cakes would pass, as the company seems to go as far as they can to mitigate cross-contamination.

Nevertheless I don't like that the gluten-free label is not actually verified through FDA (or even internal) testing. I know many sensitive celiacs can instantly detect a reaction to gluten, but I am in this nebulous realm where I never know if symptoms are gluten related or not (and what the source of the gluten was). As such, I would never be able to complain to the FDA about potential gluten content in a product. 



 

There is an ice cream cake manufacturer called Abilyn's that labels their cakes "gluten free", here and front and center on the box label: https://www.abilyns.com/every-day-celebrations.

However in the nutrition section they note that the equipment they use also processes wheat: https://www.abilyns.com/cookies-cream

I emailed them asking about this and their response:

"Thank you for reaching out and for your interest in our products.  We claim our ingredients as gluten free and acknowledge that the production facility we use does process other products containing wheat.   That said, our ice cream cakes (gluten and nut free) are the only item produced on the production line (used to produce our ice cream cakes) on the days our product is run.  The lines are thoroughly cleaned prior to our run and, as stated, only our ice cream cakes are produced on that line on that day.

Our products are produced in a facility that is SQF (Safe Quality Food) certified, a certification which requires strict adherence to thorough cleaning and sanitation processes.  That said, as we proclaim on our packaging, other items containing wheat and peanuts are produced in the facility and on the line where our ice cream cakes are produced.  

So to your question about the possibility of cross contamination, certainly a risk exists, but as you can see, there are a lot of procedures in place to minimize this risk.  I hope this helps."

I followed up asking if they test their cakes to less than 20ppm, which I believe is required to use the gluten free label. I have not heard back from them.

Can a food be officially gluten free and also be manufactured on a line that processes wheat? I bought one of their cakes based on the gluten-free label but then didn't eat due to the wheat cross-contamination risk.