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Hi everyone, my name is Denis.

A recent post about Lindt chocolates and my subsequent research about the
barley malt listed as an ingredient has prompted me to start a dialogue on
how we should be getting the 'gluten free' status of products.

I'll start with a recap of the 'gluten free' status of Lindt products sold
in the USA and in Canada.
The first thing to keep in mind with Lindt chocolates is that some are made
in Europe and some are made in the United States. You'll soon understand why
this will be very important in deciding which of their products are safe for
your gluten free diet.

*Canada*
Lindt Canada does not manufacture their own chocolates. They sell a
combination of imported products from Europe & the United States. Their
website stated that the barley malt in their chocolates tests negative for
gluten at 20ppm, which according to international standards, is considered
safe for a gluten free diet.
From their FAQ's: "Lindt Milk chocolates are manufactured with a small
amount of malt extract which is derived from barley, a source of gluten. The
gluten concentration in those chocolates is below 20 mg/kg which is
equivalent to gluten free according to the Codex Alimentarius and the EU
food regulation."

So, as stated in an earlier summary, it seemed that the Lindt chocolates
sold in Canada were indeed safe for a gluten free diet.
However, if the above statement from the Canadian website applies to all
Lindt chocolates (from Europe & USA), I wondered why the Lindt USA website
does not mention any testing of the malt ingredient. I also wondered how the
Lindt Canada website could make such a claim for all their chocolates
without any re-assurance that the malt from Lindt USA is tested for levels
of gluten?

Lindt USA does manufacture their own barley malt ingredient, but
unfortunately they do not provide any details about levels of gluten since
the FDA does not require them to do so. As a rule of thumb, if a company
does not want to give me the information I need to decide if a product is
safe for me to eat, I simply don't eat it. Since I didn't want to eat the
chocolates from Lindt USA, I asked Lindt Canada how we can differentiate the
chocolates that come from Europe and those imported from the USA. They
advised me that every package indicates the country where the product was
made.

After my inquiries, Lindt Canada revised its FAQ's to match the one listed
on the Lindt USA website.

*USA*
As I mentioned above, Lindt USA will not provide any details about levels of
gluten in the barley malt found in their products since the FDA does not
require them to do so. I would even go as far as saying that all Lindt USA
products (even the ones without the malt) should not be considered safe
since the FDA does not require them to monitor the risk of Gluten
cross-contamination in their facility.

However, not all Lindt products sold in the USA are actually made in the
USA. Those not made in the USA are made in Europe where the barley malt
ingredient is tested for gluten. Any Lindt product manufactured in the USA
will say so on the packaging.

*So what does all of this mean?*
Contrary to how we've all been taught to read labels, Lindt demonstrates how
it is possible for products to have barley listed as an ingredient and still
be considered safe for a gluten free diet. It also demonstrates how the
country in which each product is made is critical in determining if an
ingredient is safe or not.
Examples like this are why I believe that reading ingredient labels &
allergen warnings is not enough to safely shop for products on a gluten free
diet.
Here are a few more examples of how labels can be confusing:

   - Voluntary allergen warnings are often used by manufacturers as soon as
   an allergen is present in the facility, regardless of their use of seperate
   equipment or cross-contamination prevention programs.
   - The numerous words that can be used to identify glutenous sources makes
   it difficult to read labels without doing a lot of homework first. How many
   children are capable of this?

We've all been told to call manufacturers and confirm the GF status of every
product, every time we buy a product. But honnestly, who has the time to go
through this every time they buy food? Complex labelling regulations and the
disproportionate effort required in contacting manufacturers have led to the
emergence of 'gluten free' product lists in many forms, such as:

   - partial listings found on blogs
   - on-going consumer generated lists published on forums (such as Delphi
   Forums)
   - Gluten Free email communities (such as this group)
   - softwares for sale (such as clan thompson)
   - books & other publications for sale (such as Cecilias marketplace &
   Triumph dinning)
   - websites that offer paid memberships to access product information
   (such as Zeer.com & Junonutrition.com)

However, after studying each of these 'gluten free' product lists, I can
only conclude that none of these properly provide the reliable & updated
product information required to make an informed and safe food purchase.
*So what then are we to do?*
For the past 3 years, I have been working hard to find a solution to this
problem, and believe I have found it. With the help of many, my friend Josh
& I have developed www.myGlutenFacts.com <http://www.myglutenfacts.com/>, a
unique website that finally helps people easily track the 'gluten free'
status for products sold in the United States & Canada.

I'm inviting everyone to sign up to the
website<http://www.myglutenfacts.com/>(since it's free) and examine
how we provide product information for gluten
free dieters. I'm hoping that once you do this, you will respond to this
email with your feedback (experiences using the resources mentioned above,
how you read labels, feedback on our website, etc)

Thanks for your time, I know this was a long email to read!

Looking forward to your feedback,

Denis
-- 
Dealing with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity?
Get updated facts for the food you need. www.myGlutenFacts.com

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