FDA Proposed Gluten-Free Regulations

Though the FDA has yet to mandate the identification of gluten as an allergen on food labels (you may have noticed increasingly that food labels now contain a list of known allergens a product contains such as peanuts, dairy, etc.) the FDA does have a working definition of what they classify as being a "gluten-free" food. This is an important step in ensuring that when gluten does become a item that the FDA mandates identification of on product labels that items are not being falsely identified as being gluten-free. The FDA's proposed definition currently states that a food labeled “gluten-free” does not contain any of the following:

• An ingredient that is any species of the grains wheat, rye, barley, or a crossbred hybrid of these grains (collectively referred to as “prohibited grains”)
• An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has NOT been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat flour)
• An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat starch) if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million (ppm or mg/kg) or more gluten in the food
• 20 ppm or more gluten

A food that bears the claim “gluten-free” in its labeling and does not meet these conditions would be deemed misbranded. Foods that are inherently or naturally free of gluten would also be deemed misbranded if the claim does not refer to all foods of that same type (e.g., “milk, a gluten-free food” or “all milk is gluten-free”)