<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Howdy folks, just wanted to clarify parts per million (ppm) after
reading a recent post (relevant part shown at bottom).
Calculating ppm from percent (%) is simple, just multiply by 10,000.
The reason you are multiplying by 10,000 (if you want to convince
yourself that the math is correct):
per cent = part per hundred (thus a cent is a penny, one hundredth of
a dollar).
You need "per million" not "per cent" so first convert to a fraction.
Remember % to fraction conversions in grade school? Yes, I hated math
too. But I was forced to learn it, so that is why I can explain it to
others. The rule was "move the decimal two places to the left." So
0.02% = 0.0002 (just like 1% = 0.01, or if you have 100% of something
you have the whole thing, one, rather than a fraction of one). Now
instead of going back to part per hundred (that's where we were!) we
will go all the way to part per million!!! Instead of multiplying by
100 you must multiply by 1,000,000 (one million).
0.0002 X 1,000,000 = 200 ppm
Since we first moved the decimal 2 places to the left, then 6 places
to the right, we effectively moved the decimal 4 places to the right
(which is the same thing as multiplying by 10,000).
0.02% = 200 ppm
Why do we do this nonsense? Because scientists like the zeros after
the numbers rather than before them.
So said company allegedly runs ELISA testing on their products and has
reported a gluten level of 200 ppm. I still don't think it deserves to
be called "gluten free," and last I heard the FDA's ruling was 20 ppm,
but that is just my two cents (or my 20,000 ppm contribution). Codex
(international) standard allows "less than 200 ppm" so 200 ppm is
STILL pushing it!
I would much rather see: 0.001% = 10 ppm
-----
I asked if Rice Dream was gluten free and the girl I spoke to said
that it was. When I asked about the use of barley enzymes she said
that they did use barley, but the processing of the rice milk
destroyed the gluten protein.
I then asked if they tested the rice milk for gluten and she said they
did and it is .02%...
Isn't that 20,000 ppm? How can that be considered "gluten-free"?
-----
Megan Tichy, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Texas A&M University
3255 TAMU, Department of Chemistry
College Station, TX 77843-3255
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