Reading Labels

[aklap]

Reading Labels updated 7/19/09

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Please bear with me on this. I know this post is long, but it's extremely important as it will directly affect your health. If you don't know how to choose GF food, you're not going to be successful.

As you've seen, relying on published GF food lists is not a good idea. You can get bad or outdated information and thus wind up hurting yourself. Also, relying on published lists tend to make dependent on them. What happens if you forget your GF food list when you go to the store? What happens if the store is out of the brand that is on that list?

Hmmmm, if only there was way to determine if a product is GF without looking at the list....

Well, you're in luck - there is!

Reading labels is one of the preferred and best ways to determine if a product is GF. If you're not a label reader now, you soon will be! In order to stay healthy you will need to check every ingredient in every product you come in contact with - both ingested and topical.

Label reading skills are something that takes a bit work to master, but the dividends it pays are BIG. With a bit of knowledge and a few tips, you'll be able figure out a product's GF status at will! How's that for a super power!

Knowing how to read labels is like the old saying: "Give a person a fish - they'll eat for a day. Teach a person to fish - they'll eat for a life time". You learn how to read labels, you are free to figure out if almost any product is safe.


FDA Labeling Practices or "What? They actually tell us what's in this stuff?"

Well...sort of...

Currently, the law states only the top 8 allergens must be declared in the product's label. Those allergens are: Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc), Fish, Shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp), Soy, Wheat.

For a gluten free diet, the only allergen in this list that concerns us is wheat. Unfortunately barley, rye and oats do not have to be disclosed. This is a problem for us because we must remove all forms of gluten: wheat, barley, rye and oats*.

*Commercial Oats have been shown to have variable [and often high] amounts of gluten via cross contamination. However there are companies that do grow and process Pure GF oats. Be aware that some gluten intolerants can react to the protein found in oats just as they react to gluten - so proceed with caution. If you're just starting out on the GF diet, it's recommended to wait 1 year before you add pure GF oats back into your diet and do so slowly, only 1/4 cup per day.


The FDA is in the process of setting some standards as to what can be labeled gluten free. Currently, USA has no standards in place as to what is GF and what is not GF. Canada and Europe have standards in place already. The proposed limit is 20 parts per million. Any food product that contains less than 20 parts per million of gluten can be labeled as gluten free. Labeling products Gluten Free will be voluntary.

What FALCPA means for GF shopping gives a more detailed and easy to understand explanation on how the new labeling will work. You might also check out Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)'s FAQ's on FALCPA. This info is not strictly limited to wheat or gluten, but rather allergens in general.

If you want it straight from the source, check out FDA's Food Allergen Labeling And Consumer Protection Act of 2004 Questions and Answers

Gluten Free Living's website covers labeling very nicely.


Putting on your detective's cap

Often times gluten is sneaky, it can be in other items that aren't easily identified. For this, we need to do a bit of detective work to make sure it's safe. As you start reading labels, you're going to start seeing words that you can't even begin to pronounce! Now, if you can't pronounce it, do you even want to eat it?


Hint: Buy products that have a limited number of ingredients. Not only will it reduce the amount of label reading, it ends up being healthier for you!


Two resources that are extremely helpful in deciphering all these ingredients are Safe food ingredients and Unsafe food ingredients. These lists are handy to have with you when shopping. Don't worry, after awhile you get to know these lists and you won't need them

Some of the more confusing ingredients are Modified Food Starch and Natural Flavors.

Modified Food Starch can be made from a host of things - corn, wheat, potato, tapioca. In the US it's made from corn. Remember, if it's made from wheat it must be disclosed. Such as: Modified Wheat Starch or Modified Food Starch (Wheat). If you see the word Starch all by itself, law dictates it must be made from corn.

Natural Flavors. Again, if wheat is used, it must be disclosed. However, malt [made from barley] is a popular flavoring additive. Barley is not one of the top 8 allergens and does not have to be declared, but is generally listed separately. At this point you have two options: 1) Call the Manufacturer and ask the GF status of their product. 2) Know the manufacturers labeling practices. There are many companies that have labeling practices above and beyond what the law requires. They will declare any form of gluten: wheat, barley, rye or oats.

In April 2009, Cynthia Kupper [Registered Dietitian and Director of Gluten Intolerance Group], stated that Natural Flavors are a non-issue when it comes to gluten. Cynthia is not alone in removing "natural flavors" from the forbidden list. Cynthia and Tricia Thompson, Anne Lee, Melinda Dennis, Mary Kay Sharrett, and Dee Sandquist are expert workgroup members of the American Dietetic Association's Evidence Analysis Library topic on Celiac Disease - they all agree that natural flavors are a non-issue.



Hint: Buy products from companies that have exemplary labeling practices. Companies that will declare any form of gluten make it extremely easy to determine it's GF status right in the store!

For more info on elusive gluten check out Reading Labels for Hidden Wheat Sources from Children's Hospital of Boston and Important Ingredients from Gluten Free Living and National Foundation for Celiac Awareness' GF or Not GF.


Determining the GF status of a product

The American Celiac Disease Alliance has created a PDF that explains how to read the labels.

The steps listed below are similar to those found in the ACDA document. However, I have modified to it to check for questionable ingredients that may contain barley, rye or oats. Specifically: Natural Flavors that could derived from something other than wheat.

*Note 5/10/08 I have emailed ACDA and asked them about their flowchart. I'll update this when I get an answer.


Step 1:

•Is there wheat in the ingredient list or in an allergen statement [often found below the ingredient list]?
•If Yes, Put the product back on the shelf, back slowly away from it. It's not GF.
•If No, continue on to Step 2.

Step 2:

•Read thru the ingredient list. [if you've selected a product with few ingredients, it won't take you long ].
•Is Barley, Rye, Malt or Oats found?
•If Yes, put the product back on the shelf and back slowly away from it.
•If No, continue on to Step 3 [Note: the ACDA states that the product is GF and you can stop.]

Step 3:

•Read thru the ingredient list again. This time you're looking for questionable ingredients where gluten is not declared.
This is where you check for items found in these lists: Reading Labels for Hidden Wheat Sources and Important Ingredients from Gluten Free Living. Also don't forget: Safe food ingredients and Unsafe food ingredients
•Did you find any ingredient that you can't verify?
•If Yes, put the product back on the shelf and back slowly away from it until you can verify it from the manufacturer.
•If No, put the product in your cart and do the happy dance!

GF Friendly Companies

Remeber what I said above about companies that go above and beyond federal law in their labeling practices? One way to avoid Step #3 above is to purchase products from the likes of these. They will declare all forms of gluten on their labels.



USDA - Meat,Poultry & Eggs

Labeling for meat and Poultry are not governed by the FDA. Those products are governed by the US Dept. Agriculture. There are some differences in their labeling laws. There are rumblings about making the laws identical. You can check out the US Dept. of Agriculture Guide to Meat & Poultry Food Labeling.

USDA regulates products containing - 2% or more cooked meat/poultry - 3% or more raw meat/poultry meat.

FDA regulates "meat flavored" products with < 2% meat/poultry.

The FDA-regulated packaged foods follow the rules that we currently know [and are in the process of being updated for GF labeling].

•FDA-regulated products must include the word wheat on the label if there is wheat protein in that product.
•USDA-regulated products is only required to list the common or usual name of the ingredient that contains wheat.

If a USDA product lists any of these ingredients - the product contains wheat:

Flour (unless it's states corn, rice or buckwheat)
White Flour
Plain Flour
Enriched Flour
Phosphated Flour
Self-rising Flour
Graham Flour
Durum Flour
Farina
Semolina

The following ingredients may be made from wheat, however, in a FDA product, it would have to be declared.

Modified food starch
Dextrin (corn, wazy maize, waxy milo, potato, arrowroot, wheat, rice tapioca, sage)
Maltodextrin (wheat, corn, potato, rice) - most likely to be made from corn
Caramel (dextrose, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, molasses, starch hydrolysates, sucrose) - most likely to be made from corn.
Glucose syrup (an edible starch)
Natural Flavors

So - you need to be more careful when reading labels for USDA products. It may require calls to the manufacturer to really determine.
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“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa