Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I've been doing an elimination diet for a few weeks and just figured out I need to cut out gluten. While doing the diet, I have been considering foods gf if they have no gluten ingredients, but is that enough? Can companies still put "gluten-free" on a package even if it was prosessed in a plant with gluten? I've tried googling this but ended up more confused and overwhelmed. Is there a comprehensive resource?

To my knowledge, a packaged food product can only be labeled Gluten Free if it is in fact certified and processed in a Gluten Free facility. However there are a lot of products that say they are Wheat Free and they are technically Gluten Free as well, but they can't claim it because their products could be cross contaminated by other things they make. Make sense? So I guess it depends on how strict you need to be or are trying to be. If someone had a severe gluten allergy they would want things that are certified vs just wheat free. But also watch out for barley and rye, barley syrup is used frequently and is an issue for people with gluten allergies or intolerance.

sadly, I actually *have* seen products with "gluten free" plastered all over the front, back, and sides, but in teeny tiny print under the ingredients, it'll say processed in a facility that also processes blah, blah, blah - one of which being wheat. Makes me so forkin' mad!!!! (Food for Life company recently updated their brown rice bread label to include such a proviso. I wrote the company. What's wrong with these companies?! They have enough call for gf products to create a dedication production facility.)

Thanks for the replies! Monidew, I think I've seen things like you mention (gf but processed in a wheat facility) and I don't think there is a standard that food producers have to follow.
For now, I don't appear to be sensitive to trace amounts, so I won't have to be so careful. But that's scary for people who would be affected!

just watch out for those "wheat-free" labels. i have found that sometimes i see a "wheat-free" label and there's something like barley or spelt flour - making them not gluten-free. i get so sadfaced!

example - the "wheat-free" cookies here: http://www.newmansownorganics.com/funfacts8.html
(Wheat-Free Dairy-Free: Organic Powdered Sugar (Organic Sugar, Organic Corn Starch), Organic Barley Flour, Organic Sugar, Organic Palm Fruit, Oil, Organic Corn Flour, Organic Rice Flour, Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Canola Oil (Expeller Pressed), Unsweetened Chocolate, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor, Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate (leavening), Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier).)

Unless you're celiac, though, is "processed in the same plant as wheat" even an issue? I realize that gluten can aggravate non-celiac issues like IBS, but at trace quantities, is it really a concern?

Does anyone know if the FDA proposed standards of what "Gluten Free" is were ever enacted? Even if they were, compliance is voluntary and GF means less than 22 ppm, so its not like you're going to be able to ensure that you have no gluten at all in something that is labeled GF.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulat ... 111487.htm
http://www.natlawreview.com/article/def ... luten-free

Different people have different levels of sensitivity. For some, yes, the trace quantities can cause a reaction. I'm one of them.