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Canada has had a gluten-free regulation since 1995. It prohibited the grains
wheat, rye, barley and oats in to be in foods labeled gluten-free. It was
modified  in 2012 when Health Canada also revised the Food and Drug
regulations to enhance the labeling of food allergens and gluten sources.
All food products (not those labeled "gluten-free")  must declare the major
allergens and gluten sources (which they still included oats as well as
wheat, rye and barley) in the ingredient list or Contains statement at the
end of the ingredient list. Also, gluten-free products would need to less
than 20 ppm. 

 

What makes this complicated is that the 2007 position paper by Health Canada
stated that the majority of people with celiac disease can tolerate pure
uncontaminated oats.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/cel-coe/oats_cd-avoine-eng.php

 

However oats were left in the definition of gluten containing grains in the
revised food labeling regulations. They were concerned that if they took
oats out the definition of gluten containing grains that consumers would not
know if they were the pure, uncontaminated oats or regular oats. Also they
wanted to protect the very small minority of those with celiac disease that
may not tolerate oats. The Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) has a position
statement since 2006 that has been revised several times stating that
majority of individuals with celiac disease can tolerate pure,
uncontaminated oats. I have been on the CCA Professional Advisory Board
since 1995. Over the past 10 years we have been discussing with Health
Canada the need for pure oats to be able to be labeled "gluten-free". We
have been making really good progress in the last year however things move
very slowly in government! Those in the USA know this is the case with the
FDA as well.

 

Currently in Canada  products with  pure, uncontaminated oats still cannot
make a "gluten-free" claim. However they can say  in the ingredient list
"pure, uncontaminated oats" or "free of wheat, rye and barley". We hope that
Health Canada will soon make the changes so that these specialty pure oat
products can make a gluten-free claim. Our concern is that there are more
products on the store shelves with oats and consumers are confused which
ones are safe.

 

To add further confusion for consumers in the USA, the FDA gluten-free
regulation that was passed last year does not prohibit oats in gluten-free
products. So companies may label their product "gluten-free" in the USA but
have a different claim in Canada such as "pure, uncontaminated oats" for the
same product! 

 

Another issue that has just come to our attention is that the FDA is saying
you cannot put the words "gluten-free" in front of the word oats in the
ingredient list because this is "extraneous" language. For more information
about this situation see the blog post from Gluten-Free Watchdog by Tricia
Thompson, RD, Beth Armour, RD and myself Shelley Case, RD
https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/blog/Special-Report-The-Use-of-Oats-in-Gl
uten-Free-Foods/36 

 

 

Shelley Case, B. Sc., RD
Case Nutrition Consulting Inc.,  <http://www.glutenfreediet.ca/>
www.glutenfreediet.ca 
Author: Gluten Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide
Medical Advisory Board: Celiac Disease Foundation, Gluten Intolerance Group,
Canadian Celiac Association

Allergic Living Magazine: "Ask the Expert" 

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Phone: (306) 536-7716     Fax: (306) 751-1000

 

 

 

 


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