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I wasn't going to put my 2 cents into this discussion. But, since all
posts have been uniformly anti-legislation, I can't resist.
 
I feel that it is the Federal Govt's responsibility to protect the
welfare of each segment of the population, if that population desires
protection. Face it. The Food Industry is not going to perform any more
regulation than it has to.  It has been mentioned that the celiac
population is probably so small that any lost proceeds from that
population are not going to impact their bottom line. Therefore, they
are not going to voluntarily attempt to capture this niche market.  Or
worst, they may put on misleading labelling, without the quality
controls. With stricter labelling legislation, prices will go up a
little, in the short term, for all products.  But, celiacs (and other
food allergies) will benefit enormously.
 
As far as driving prices up for the niche contenders, they are already
following a more stringent labelling and should be uneffected. Likewise,
as the bigger food corporations reveal that they are not truly GF, we
(the consumers) will be more likely to buy truly GF products.
 
The only way that food companies are going to do this is through
legislation, not economics. If we, the dietarily challenged, want to
improve our health, then we should lobby for more stringent legislation.
 
Andrew