Two new labels for foods for people intolerant to gluten

[petern]

Hello,

I don't know if you have already been discussing this subject, but with some searching I dug up a draft of new EU legislation for gluten free labelling. The European Commission proposes to add two new labels to the existing ones per 2016:

• “suitable for people intolerant to gluten”: may accompany “gluten-free” or “very low gluten” labels, without further requirements.
• “specifically formulated for people intolerant to gluten”: may accompany “gluten-free” or “very low gluten” labels, if the product is specially produced to:
  
  • reduce the gluten content of gluten containing ingredients (i.e. gluten-free wheat starch), or
  • substitute the gluten containing ingredients with other ingredients naturally free of gluten.

Furthermore, the regulation explicitly forbids the use of these labels on baby milk, pointing to an earlier directive forbidding the use of gluten-containing ingredients in all baby milk.

The entire proposal can be found here:
www.peternowee.com/seriousceliac/2014/06/01/eu-to-add-two-new-food-labels-for-gluten-intolerant-in-2016/eu-2016-gluten-free-implementing-act-draft-of-20140325-the-serious-celiac/

My comments, in short:

• The last category (foods in which gluten-containing ingredients were replaced by naturally gluten free ones) is poorly defined, exceeds the mandate given to the European Commission for this act and in my opinion does not deserve a special label, because this would create a two-class system for products that are essentially the same (containing naturally gluten free ingredients and max. 20 ppm). Such a two-class system provides unnecessary market protection to the dietetic foods industry and can lead to a reduced (or more expensive) choice for the consumer.
• I think there should be a possibility to inform the consumer through packaging about the absence of gluten in baby milk.
• Because cross-contamination with gluten occurs in practically all food categories and there are no sharp lines between food categories, I feel the proposal should determine that the anti-misleading clause of the general food law (which determines that a product should not claim to be free of something that all similar products are also free of) should not be applied to a gluten-free food solely on the basis that the food consists of ingredients naturally free of gluten. Producers that went out of their way to ensure their naturally gluten free food really stays gluten free, and are sure that their product is gluten free, should be able to communicate that with us on their packaging. Now they might meet obstruction by local authorities. Who is protected by the anti-misleading clause? Ultimately it protects those producers that do not want to guarantee that their product is gluten free, but prefer to leave this question open: No gluten-containing ingredients declared, but also no gluten-free claim. Result: Patients cannot distinguish good from evil and just cut entire product categories out of their diets. The proposal needs to more clearly determine when the anti-misleading clause applies or not, preferably more often not than so.

More details on my blog:
www.peternowee.com/seriousceliac/2014/06/01/eu-to-add-two-new-food-labels-for-gluten-intolerant-in-2016/

The proposal will be discussed next week Friday, June 13 already in the SCFCAH committee. Once they agree, I think there is not much that can be changed anymore. So, if you want to influence these changes, be quick. (Sorry, I also just found the drafts on May 31.) Unfortunately, it is not known who are in the SCFCAH, but the meetings should be led be by the head of the responsible European Commission unit, Mr. Basil Mathioudakis. You could send him an e-mail, like I did, or you could check with the Department of Health, Coeliac UK, universities, research groups, lobby groups, etc. to see if they know who is going to the SCFCAH meeting. (Be sure to report that information back here!)

Do note that this act is supposed to be only a tranfer of the existing rules (EC 41/2009) to a new legislative framework (Food Information to Consumers, EU 1169/2011), meaning that the room for changes in existing regulations is officially limited. (On the other hand, the Commission-proposal also exceeds their limited task scope).

[petern]

Two additional comments on the proposal:

• The “suitable for”-category should be reconsidered as well: It has no additional requirements, so adds no better protection whatsoever, thus only creating a false impression that foods carrying only a “gluten-free” label are not, or do not need to be, suitable for people intolerant to gluten. It only protects the dietetic foods industry market, protects the regular foods industry against complaints by patients, but does nothing to protect the patient.
• Considering the only remaining new category that I can, for Italy’s sake, agree with ("specially formulated for people intolerant to gluten" for foods specially produced to reduce the gluten content of gluten containing ingredients, i.e. gluten-free wheat starch), I think the wording of the label ("specially formulated for people intolerant to gluten") does not reflect the true meaning of this category ("specially produced to reduce the gluten content of gluten containing ingredients") and wrongly suggests that these foods are a better choice for people intolerant to gluten than naturally gluten-free foods. The wording of the label should be changed to the true meaning of the category.