Gluten free and the law
It’s critical for all businesses manufacturing or catering gluten free foods, to adhere to gluten free regulations to protect the health and well-being of the gluten free community.
By partnering with us, you’ll gain expert guidance through the complexities of gluten free regulations, and we’ll provide you with the confidence and assurance needed to produce safe, high quality gluten free options for your customers.
When can the term ‘gluten free’ be used?
The term ‘gluten free’ is covered by assimilated Regulation (EU) No. 828/2014* and no other statement to describe the absence of gluten is permitted.
To label a product ‘gluten free,’ you need to be able to prove that it contains no more than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. This applies to all foods sold in catering establishments and pre-packaged products. The term can be used on specialist substitute gluten free products like breads, flours, and crackers, which may contain gluten free wheat starch, as well as processed foods that are made from ingredients that by nature don’t contain gluten and there are processes in place to avoid cross contamination with cereals containing gluten, like soups, baked beans, and crisps. The ‘gluten free’ label may also be used for uncontaminated oat products. For oat products to be labelled ‘gluten free’ the oats themselves must also contain no more than 20ppm (mg/kg) of gluten.
Oats are legally considered to be an allergen because they are often grown or milled in the same environment as cereals containing gluten (e.g. wheat, barley and rye) and oats also contain avenin, a protein similar to gluten. However, oats and oat products that are not contaminated with other cereals containing gluten, and that contain no more than 20mg/kg (ppm) of gluten may be labelled ‘gluten-free’. The term ‘oats’ must still be emphasised as the allergen.
Cereals containing gluten must be highlighted within ingredients
Assimilated Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the Food Information to Consumers, introduced in 2014, makes it mandatory for food manufacturers to list on the packaging all the ingredients and emphasise the presence of the fourteen allergens.
When a cereal containing gluten (i.e. wheat, barley, rye, and oats) or an ingredient derived from a cereal containing gluten (e.g. barley malt extract), is voluntarily used as an ingredient, the cereal must be emphasised in the ingredients list, no matter the quantity used. Hybridised strains of cereals containing gluten such as spelt, khorasan wheat (commercially known as Kamut®), or triticale should always emphasise the cereal they derive from – e.g. Khorasan wheat; spelt (wheat) flour.
Examples:
– gluten free oats
– malted barley
– gluten free wheat starch#
Exemptions
Some ingredients derived from cereals containing gluten have been exempted from the declaration of the allergen in the ingredients list; this is because the processing has removed the gluten. Only in this case the cereal should not be emphasised.
These four ingredients are:
- Wheat based glucose syrup including dextrose
- Wheat based maltodextrins
- Glucose syrups based on barley
- Cereals used for making alcoholic distillates
‘May contain’ guidance
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) updated its guidance on Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL) (or “may contain” statements) in September 2023. PAL statements are voluntary and should only be used if there is an unavoidable risk of allergen contamination which cannot be sufficiently controlled by segregation and cleaning. Statements should be accurate and not misleading and specify which of the 14 allergens the PAL refers to; for example, “may contain barley”.
The guidance allows for foods labelled “gluten free” to be used with a PAL statement for cereals containing gluten; for example, “gluten free” and “may contain wheat”. This is to protect consumers with a wheat allergy but is confusing for the gluten free/coeliac consumer; where possible, there should be processes in place to prevent the need for this. The gluten free claim must not be compromised, and the food is expected to be no more than 20ppm gluten.
Examples of precautionary allergen statements include: “not suitable for someone with X allergy”, “may contain traces of gluten”, “made in a factory also handling barley”
No-gluten containing statements
The FSA guidance on Precautionary Allergen Labelling recommends not to use “No-Gluten Containing Ingredients” statements and use instead a “gluten free” statement which reflects that controls are in place to ensure that food provided has no more than 20ppm gluten. Should a business choose to use NGCI statements, they should emphasise that those foods are not suitable for people with coeliac disease.
If you would like our help in communicating your gluten free options to your customers or need guidance on safely producing gluten free products, we have resources available. You can join one of our two food safety schemes be equipped with the skills and knowledge to provide gluten free food.