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A comparison of gluten levels in labeled gluten-free and certified gluten-free foods sold in the United States

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 143–146 (2015)Cite this article

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On 5 August 2013, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the long-awaited rule for gluten-free labeling of food.1 This rule went into effect on 4 September 2013. Manufacturers of packaged food products, including imported foods that fall under the labeling jurisdiction of FDA who voluntarily choose to label their foods gluten-free, must be in compliance by 5 August 2014.

Under the FDA’s gluten-free rule, foods making a 'gluten-free' claim (or using the synonyms 'no gluten', 'free of gluten' and 'without gluten') on product packaging must be either (1) naturally gluten-free (for example, bag of raw carrots) or (2) comply with all of the following criteria: not contain an ingredient that is a gluten-containing grain (for example, wheat); not contain an ingredient derived from a gluten-containing grain that has not been processed to remove gluten (for example, wheat flour); not contain an ingredient derived from a gluten-containing grain that has been processed to remove gluten (for example, wheat starch) if use of that ingredient causes the food to contain ⩾20 parts per million (p.p.m.) of gluten, and the presence of any gluten in a food must be <20 p.p.m. gluten.1

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References

  1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Federal Register. Final Rule; Document 78 FR 47154: Food Labeling; Gluten-Free Labeling of Foods https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/08/05/2013-18813/food-labeling-gluten-free-labeling-of-foods. Accessed 6 May 2014.

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Acknowledgements

Data used in the analysis were collected as part of an online subscription-based gluten testing service (Gluten Free Watchdog, LLC). No funding was received for the analysis of the data or writing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gluten Free Watchdog, Manchester, MA, USA

    T Thompson

  2. Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, Harkness Pavilion, New York, NY, USA

    S Simpson

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  1. T Thompson
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Correspondence to T Thompson.

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Competing interests

Tricia Thompson is the owner/founder of Gluten Free Watchdog, LLC, Manchester, MA, USA. The other author declares no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

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Thompson, T., Simpson, S. A comparison of gluten levels in labeled gluten-free and certified gluten-free foods sold in the United States. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 143–146 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.211

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