The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a new regulation defining the term gluten-free for voluntary food labeling, in order to provide a uniform standard definition to help up to 3 million Americans who have celiac disease.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive condition that can be effectively managed only by eating a gluten free diet.
Under the new federal definition, in order to use the term 'gluten-free' on the label, a food must meet all of the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten.
The rule also requires foods with the claims "no gluten," "free of gluten," and "without gluten" to meet the definition for "gluten-free."
The FDA noted that that many foods currently labeled as "gluten-free" may be able to meet the new federal definition already. Food manufacturers will have a year after the rule is published to bring their labels into compliance with the new requirements.
FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine Michael R Taylor, ""We encourage the food industry to come into compliance with the new definition as soon as possible and help us make it as easy as possible for people with celiac disease to identify foods that meet the federal definition of 'gluten-free'."
The term "gluten" refers to proteins that occur naturally in wheat, rye, barley and cross-bred hybrids of these grains. In people with celiac disease, foods that contain gluten trigger production of antibodies that attack and damage the lining of the small intestine.
Such damage limits the ability of celiac disease patients to absorb nutrients and puts them at risk of other very serious health problems, including nutritional deficiencies, osteoporosis, growth retardation, infertility, miscarriages, short stature, and intestinal cancers.
The FDA was directed to issue the new regulation by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), which directed FDA to set guidelines for the use of the term "gluten-free" to help people with celiac disease maintain a gluten-free diet.