As a follow up to the letter from Jules Shepard, I had a very good conversation today with Mike Anderson, VP of Marketing for Snyder's of Hanover. I ended the call feeling better about Snyders, but also feeling that I will need to be more scrupulous of mainstream manufactured products.
First, Snyders is very apologetic for any perception that they have a cavalier attitude towards the gluten free market or those on the gluten free diet. They want to apologize to the gluten free community for any confusion they caused. We did not get into a he said/she said dialogue regarding the discussion with Jules. As I have said before, I completely trust Jules and have no doubt that she felt the way she did for good reason. I think the issue here is the problem that stems from gluten free labeling not being regulated by the FDA.
Currently, there is no FDA regulation that defines the term "gluten-free." The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) required the FDA to develop and implement regulations for the voluntary labeling of gluten-free foods. The FDA announced the proposal on January 23, 2007. The final proposals was due to go into effect on August 2, 2008. This deadline was not met. (For more on the FDA regulation see AmericanCeliac.org). However, the FDA does not object to the use of the term "gluten-free" in the labeling of foods, provided that when such a claim is made, it is truthful and not misleading.
Until the FDA regulation goes into effect, it is up to manufactures such as Snyders to define what is truthful and not misleading in labeling products as GF. As Mike explained, as a manufacturer they see their products falling into three categories: (1) food certified GF by an agency such as GFCO and tested at less than 10 ppm, (2) food that is labeled GF on the package but not certified and therefore up to some good faith standard set by the manufacturer, and (3) food that is not labeled as GF but contains "no gluten ingredients." For instance, Snyders makes a veggie stick that does not contain any gluten ingredients. So it could be labeled as "no gluten ingredients." However, because of manufacturing practices their veggie stick product test at above 20 ppm for gluten. As a company newly entering this area, Snyders is trying to understand the importance of the 20 ppm standard to the celiac community and/or to the larger group of individuals who for various reasons have decided to eliminate gluten from their diet. For good or for bad, GF has in some ways become a fad. Because this area is not regulated by FDA, it leaves a lot of discretion and confusion for food manufacturers.
Rest assured Snyders has heard the voice of the celiac community and will hopefully be signing a contract with GFCO for certification of their new pretzel sticks very soon. By the way, they have actually been looking into certification since last September. As part of their research, they have been conducting tests of their new GF pretzels, which have been testing in the 5 ppm range. Your emails to Snyders took away any doubt as to the importance of GF certification for their pretzels. They hope to launch their new line of pretzels sometime in the next couple of months and these will be certified GF and meet the GFCO standard of less than 10 ppm.
Additionally, and maybe even more importantly, this issue has opened my eyes to the fact that buyers need to beware when it comes to processed food that could be made on shared lines or in the same facility as products containing wheat. Once the FDA regulations are enacted, then you can feel reasonably certain that something labeled GF contains less than 20 ppm. But until then, the ball is really in the manufacturer’s court to apply this standard. Just today I saw some taquitos at Whole Foods in the Gluten Free section that said "no gluten" but yet they were not certified GF, there was no indication that they were made in a GF facility, or that the company independently tested the product to assure it was GF. Before this incident, we probably would have eaten these but I think I will pass on items such as this until a more consistent standard is developed. Moreover, if a company really wants the gluten free community to trust its products, they need to take the steps to test their own products to verify they met the 20 ppm standard. For instance, Amy’s website indicates they have an in-house lab that verifies its products meet the 20 ppm standard.
Even more bothersome to me are the products not labeled GF but that, from reading the label, appear not to contain any gluten. Mike gave the perfect example of veggie sticks that contain no gluten ingredients. Upon reading the package someone on the GF diet may think they are safe to consume when in fact they test at more than 20 ppm.
As I have said many times, I am not an expert, or a doctor or a nutritionist. I am just a Mom who is trying to negotiate the GF world, and I know this may seem overly cautious to some. There are some publications that almost push the gluten free community into feeling safe about items such as this by pointing out the rarity of contamination. This is really your own individual decision that you will have to make.
In the meantime, to see a list of all the companies that have been certified GF click on the "certified" link on the GFCO website. Can I say how thankful I am to this organization for providing this service? In addition, I reaffirm that the easiest and safest way to eat GF is to cook whole natural (why not make it local and organic) ingredients that are naturally GF.
