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Melonie and Listmembers,

I certainly agree with your comment that this is bizarre labeling!

I am surprised at this type of labeling on a product that is from a gluten free retailer.  I personally have not run across anything labeled in this manner.  

Are you sure that the company makes only gluten free products?  I am wondering if this company makes other products that are not gluten free, so this is their way to disclose it.  I would probably contact both the gluten free retailer and the company and ask for clarification of their labeling policy. 

Even with the passage of the new Food Labeling bill that takes effect in 2006, it is my understanding that there is still no official definition to the term "gluten free" in this country as far as labeling is concerned.  I think that is something that is still to be determined.   

But, to answer your question, I would probably purchase such a product.   

This brings up another subject that follows along these same lines --

I heard from the contact at a national grocery chain that they have been getting a lot of calls that the callers are really pressing the issue of dedicated lines and cross contamination -- sometimes to the point of being rude.  The company  position is that they are a regular grocery chain who produces mainstream grocery products for the majority of consumers.  They do their best to ascertain whether the product ingredients are gluten free and perform good manufacturing procedures such as allergy cleanouts between runs of products, so that is why they say that a product is gluten free and safe for us to use.  

If a person wants to consume only products manufactured in gluten free facilities, then they are really going to be restricting their purchases to health food stores or specialty gluten free companies, except for fresh fruit, veggies, etc.  
In that case, I would think that there would be no point in contacting the manufacturers of most products sold in regular grocery stores to check on their products.   I would also think that it would never be safe to eat out as there is always a risk of cross-contamination in the kitchen of any restaurant.

We have been gluten free for seven years and follow the diet very carefully.   We check the products that we use frequently for gluten status.  We eat out carefully at various restaurants several times a month.  

My husband has his blood drawn on an annual basis to check his antibodies and they are always negative.

My point in bringing this to your attention is that in our quest to find safe GF products to use, we need to be careful how we approach companies, restaurants, etc.  We certainly do not want to allienate them because then we will get even less cooperation than we get now.  I personally can't wait until the new food labeling takes effect in 2006, but it does not address all of our concerns.  We will still need help from the food manufacturers to address other ingredients besides the top eight allergens.

In my idea of the perfect world, EVERYTHING WOULD BE GF!!!!!

I hope that no one is offended by my comments -- it was certainly not my intention to offend anyone.  I am just trying to offer a bit of common sense thinking in this insane gluten filled world!

Barbara in Missouri



Subject: Gluten Free Label, but manufactured in a facility that processes wheat???

Hello List,
 
I just recieved a product that I ordered from an online (reputable) gluten free retailer.  The item is a clear container of pizelles that have a neon green "gluten free" sticker on the front of the clear container.  If you flip the container over, there a statement below the ingredient listing that says "Manufactured by a facility that also processes wheat flour."
 
Now doesn't this sound like an oxymoron?
 
I have never seen a product that is clearly labeled as "gluten free" have such a statement on it.
Any thoughts?  Doesn't that seem like making a claim that an item is peanut free and then putting a statement in small letters on the back of the product that the product was manufactured in a facility that processes nuts? I just find this to be bizarre.  I'm not interested in requesting a refund or anything like that.... I guess I wondering if any of you would purchase such a product if you knew this about the product labeling?  In my opinion, it's different if you buy a product that "appears" to be gluten free according to the ingredient listing, doesn't have a specific "gluten free" label or sticker on it, and THEN read such a statement.... but to have it clearly labeled as gluten-free and then read such a statement seems a bit misleading.
 
Melonie

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *