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Summary from "separation in display of GF goods in a grocery setting":

A large grocery chain category manager in this part of the country has asked me the following question. I know this is a little "over the top", but does any one know of any actual guidelines/requirements in a retail food environment for separating gluten free and and goods that contain gluten (this is packaged goods)?

Here is her question:
"I have a customer that is raising cane about (GF) product sitting on the=
shelves next to regular flour. Are there any guide lines set in place at=
all for this?"

Thanks!

Diane B. Jacobs, author
"Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free & Wheat Free Cooking
www.CeliacDiseaseInfo.org
www.GlutenFreeFoodieHeaven.blogspot.com

Responses below:
I don't know of any official guidelines, but my Kroger store has an"organic food" manager, and he has included the gluten free, the milk free, and the egg free foods in his own little section of the store along with organic foods and herbal medicines.  It's really nice to have these particular varieties together since I'm GF, Casein free, and egg free.  The pasta and individual flour sections are growing, too, and I wonder how long until he'll be asking to add more space for his "Organic" section.
...Susan

Please make sure that the spelt products are NOT with the gluten-free products. I have seen health food stores do this. They put the spelt products in the gluten-free section. Spelt is a form of wheat.
...Vicki 

I don't know of any guidelines available for gluten-free shelf-stocking, I doubt any studies have been done that show how far away gf foods need to be from flour, but you could tell him what we already know: That loose flour can be airborne for 24 hours (and is in abundance on the outside of flour packages)  and that many people on the list report holding their breath while going through store bakeries, for instance. You could tell him that a very small amount of flour can cause a dangerous autoimmune response. 
Why is this over the top?  I raised this same complaint with a store in my area.  I would never willingly walk down the flour asile in a grocery store!  What if a bag of flour broke or was leaking?  This could have happened at any time and there could still be flour on shelves, boxes and etc!  It is hard enough to go into stores with bakeries and I try to go after the baking is done and I never go near the bakery, excpet in this same store where it is combined with the deli!  Maybe I am overly cautious, but I don't think so, after all it is our health we are talking about here!
There are no "official" guidelines that I know of but some common sense should come into play.  I think stores would sell more gf items if they put them in a section, at least the speciaity items as it takes forever to walk asiles in a store to find out what they MIGHT carry. 
...Ann-Marie

There are no guidelines that I am aware of.  The only time I think that would be problem
is if it is in a designated gluten free section and they have other non gf items in the section.
That might be a problem for newbies that don't have a handle on the diet yet.
As far as I know, there is no "Gluten free jail!"
I always worry that when people make a big stink like that, they make the store owner not want to bother doing anything for us at all.
...Barbara in SW MO

I believe such a request is over the top.  If merchants are required to have a hermetically sealed room for the GF product they will not go through the bother of carrying it..
..Teresa in AZ

No guidelines that I know of. But I will tell you this: the main store I shop in, which is an AWESOME store in most respects, puts their GF products RIGHT ACROSS from their bread aisle.
Which means: to shop there, I have to smell that (gluten) bread the whole time. It is very irritating, at the least, and basically I choose to shop elsewhere when I can, even though they have a good selection. I wrote them a letter to that effect, but they didn't respond.
I do realize that from a product viewpoint, "bread" and "gluten free bread" are rather related. But from my viewpoint: I'd rather be shopping near an open sewer or the garbage bins (which are less likely to make me ill). We have a "gluten free" store that has opened in our area, and I give them more and more of our business. Less hassle.
...Heidi

I don't think there are guidelines, but it would seem to me to make marketing sense to separate GF products out.  Mixing them in is not going to persuade anyone who doesn't need them to buy them.  It is just plain painful to look at everything I can't have, shelved next to the high cost gluten free products which are my only choices.  It is also time consuming.  The two stores in my area that have made a point of creating large gluten free displays report having attracted business that way.  I make a point of mentioning this to store managers in stores where I am struggling to find something.  The only time I have really objected to product placement was in a natural foods store where the gluten free items were right next to bulk bins of various wheat flours.  I, for one, know I can't breathe that stuff, and I couldn't purchase anything at that store....Ellen  

The only problem I see is if there is a sign that says gluten free.  It might
confuse someone that just started on the diet.  Besides that I can not see a problem.
...Ginny

I am unaware of any guidelines but I sure wish there were some. There are times when I will not buy an item that I feel has been liberally "dusted" with glutens from neighboring packages!...Gabriele

I work for the food industry, and the answer is No guidelines.
In fact, General Mills wants their GF products on the regular shelves, they don't want them in the health markets.
It has not been my experience anyone reacting to this situation.
...Theresa

Guidelines? Well, there's common sense. I've seen never a flour package that didn't leak.  I personally don't buy GF products that are coated in flour dust and I have spoken to store managers about how GF goods were displayed. When I showed the manager of my local store how the GF Bob's Red Mill products all had a dusting of wheat flour on the exterior, he actually contacted corporate and the store changed how the goods were displayed.
 As the Feds are way behind in releasing the legal definition of GF, I seriously doubt there are grocery shelf standards.
 I don't think the customer is over the top at all - perhaps you didn't mean your phrasing to sound so critical? - and believe that customers like that benefit all of us by raising awareness of cross contamination in the retail chain of supply.
...Maureen

 I don't know about guidelines, but I did complain to our Weis Market manager (south central PA) that all of the gluten free stuff is scattered around the store.  It used to be in a dedicated "health food" area and made it alot easier.  Now they have some in the freezer (the only pizza they dropped was the rice crust Amy's), and stuck the gf stuff over next to the canned fruit and opposite the canned veggies (go figure).  They said it came down from "on high" so that is how it has to be.  I used to buy alot there but it is scattered around the store so I am buying alot less.  I even told the manager ove the store mgr. when he was walking around one day.  I guess Weis doesn't want the gf market?!.
...Paula in PA

Just common sense/courtesy!  I wish the two items weren't side by side, as well.
Juli

you may think it is "over the top"--but chains who have found that kosher foods are big business, separate SOME (not all) kosher products in some stores.
Question is always does it pay?
...Miriam

No there are no requirements or regulations in this situation. If there were, other foods that are considered allergens such as peanuts, soy, etc... would also need to be segregated.
....Louise,GF consultant

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