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Loading...Be Cautious of Gluten-Free Labels
- Molly, selected from Experience Life
- July 19, 2012
- 1:02 pm
- 36 comments
By Experience Life
Think you can have your gluten-free cake and eat it, too? Not so fast. Despite the hundreds of products that sport gluten-free labels, the FDA has no official standards to regulate the claim. For those striving to limit their gluten intake, that lack of regulation can be frustrating. But for those with celiac disease, hypersensitivities to cereal grains, or certain autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (in which the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid), a “gluten-free” food with traces of gluten can pose a serious health threat. Fortunately, new rules likely to be unveiled later this year should clear up the confusion.
As it stands now, the FDA only requires companies to state whether common allergens, such as wheat or nuts, are ingredients in a product. Labeling regulations are lax for products potentially cross-contaminated with allergens during the manufacturing process — something that happens frequently in facilities that process a wide variety of foods. That means small quantities of gluten can easily sneak into products labeled “gluten-free.”
The FDA is currently evaluating the issue. Many experts anticipate that if the FDA does adopt new regulations, they will mirror those governing product labeling in several European countries, which allow companies to label their products gluten-free if they contain fewer than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. Many researchers assert that those levels are tolerable even for people with celiac disease, says Danna Korn, founder of Raising Our Celiac Kids and author of Living Gluten-Free for Dummies (Wiley, 2010).
In the meantime, you can eliminate the guesswork by avoiding processed foods whenever possible. “The best way to avoid gluten is to eat products that aren’t manufactured,” says Korn. “Most natural, non-grain whole foods, such as vegetables, fruits, meats, legumes and fish, are inherently gluten-free.”
Related:
Going Gluten-Free?
Beyond Bread: Gluten-Free Foods
7 Ways Food Allergies Could Benefit You (& the Earth)
Read more: Conscious Consumer, Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Food, Health, allergens, celiac disease, FDA, food labels, gluten, gluten free, gluten intolerance, Hashimoto's disease, mislabeling
Molly, selected from Experience Life
Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit experiencelife.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter, or to subscribe to the print or digital version.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
LOVELY & SO TRUE. I HAD MY GIRL UNTIL SHE WAS 17 YEARS OF AGE.
ty
''IF PEOPLE EAT HEALTHIER, WE MIGHT HAVE MORE OLD PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF'' ??? - GOD FORBID !!! - WH…
Natural sponges are an alternative so are reusable pads.
tls
36 comments
+ add your ownNoted..
Thank you :)
Thanks.
Thanks
good to know
Thank you
very good warnings as things are sometimes passed off for what its not.
Best of all, live food eaters become virtually sickness-free!
people are lead to believe that medicine that a doctor precribes to a patient is going to fix our problems we have with ourselves.We can CAN HEAL OURSELVES without going to a doctor,the medicine that people take is the REAL cause of people getting sick,also processed foods,cooked foods to.
Since all three categories rely on pharmaceuticals, society is led to believe that health depends on pharmaceuticals.
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