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 Researchers tested 101 foods sold in the U.S. that didn’t include
ingredients known to contain gluten, such as wheat, barley, rye,
malt or brewer’s yeast. These foods were not labeled "gluten-free" -
but consumers might assume they were gluten-free, because
gluten-containing substances weren't on the ingredient list.
Some of the products did have warning labels suggesting they might
contain gluten. Among the 87 products that didn’t have such advisory
warnings, however, 13 items, or 15 percent, tested positive for
gluten.
The tests were done through Gluten Free Watchdog, a company that
charges monthly subscription fees for gluten testing reports.
“In our research, the use of an allergen advisory statement for
wheat on products not labeled gluten-free but appearing to be free
of gluten-containing ingredients was not a useful predictor of
gluten content,” said lead study author Tricia Thompson, founder of
Gluten Free Watchdog.
The study sheds light on the limits of so-called allergy advisory
statements, voluntary information on U.S. food labels that notes,
for example, when foods are processed in the same facility as wheat
or nuts.
“Allergen advisory statements are voluntary and not currently
defined by any federal regulations,” Thompson said. “Some
manufacturers use these statements to alert consumers to processing
practices that may result in cross contact with allergens; many
manufacturers do not.”
U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines require packaged foods
labeled “gluten-free” to contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm)
of gluten. The goal of these rules is to limit gluten exposure for
people with celiac disease.
About one in 100 people have celiac disease, in which consumption of
gluten triggers an autoimmune response that damages the small
intestine. The damage interferes with the absorption of nutrients
from food. Left untreated, the condition can lead to complications
such as malnutrition, low bone density, lactose intolerance and
infertility.
The current study looked at a variety of grocery items including
cereals, spices, teas, candy, beverages and baked goods.
Fourteen of these items did include allergy advisory statements for
wheat or gluten on the label and only one tested positive for
gluten, researchers report in the European Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, online September 14.
Among the 87 products without allergy advisories, 74 contained
little or no gluten. Another nine items contained gluten in amounts
ranging from at least 5 ppm but less than 20 ppm, and four foods had
at least 20 ppm of gluten.
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The study is small, and the findings are not representative of all
foods sold in U.S. stores, the authors note. It’s also impossible to
tell where in the food production line these foods were contaminated
with gluten, they point out.
In addition, the study lacks data on how consumers might interpret
the information on food labels.
When consumers see “gluten-free” they can trust that means no more
gluten than allowed by the FDA, said Marianne Smith Edge, a
registered dietician and former president of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics.
“However, the precautionary label statements ‘may contain . . .’ do
provide uncertainties for consumers as regulations do not currently
exist to ensure standardization,” Smith Edge, who wasn’t involved in
the study, said by email.
Some products that tested positive for gluten in the study contained
oats, which can be contaminated with wheat or barley at the
agricultural level, during farming or in grain elevators, said Steve
Taylor, a food allergy researcher at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, who wasn’t involved in the study.
Spices and teas also tested positive for gluten, and these items are
often imported from countries that don’t have stringent standards
for gluten contamination. For these products, though, consumers are
unlikely to use enough at one time to have an allergic reaction,
Taylor added by email.
“I don’t think that there is a problem,” Taylor said.
“Gluten-sensitive consumers should rely on products with gluten-free
labels. They should be careful about grain-based foods that have no
gluten-free statement. I don’t think that they should worry about
spices and tea.”
Although people with allergies and sensitivities might not be
affected by tiny amounts of gluten, people with celiac disease can
still be harmed by it. Some may not feel sick when they eat foods
with trace amounts of gluten, but long-term exposure can still lead
to intestinal damage.
SOURCE: http://go.nature.com/2deCpYS
Eur J Clin Nutr 2016.
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