Going “gluten-free” has become a diet fad, with many weight-conscious people refusing wheat, barley and rye in the mistaken belief that it will help them drop pounds.

But for those who have celiac disease, there is nothing faddish about a gluten-free diet—it is essential for them to maintain even a reasonable level of health. Just a small amount of gluten can wreak havoc in their digestive systems, and so they depend on products made with only gluten-free grains, seeds and flour—for example, millet, buckwheat and amaranth—and products that are labeled gluten-free.

Last fall, the FDA passed a new labeling rule intended to give people with celiac disease more confidence in packaged foods that are supposed to be safe for them to eat. The new rule establishes a definition for foods labeled gluten-free—that they may contain no more than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. This is an important step forward—but there’s room for improvement.

LABEL CONFUSION

The first thing that needs to be made clear is that the new gluten-free labeling rule is voluntary. Manufacturers are not required to state either that a product is gluten-free…or that it contains gluten. And that leaves people who need to avoid gluten still at risk—even with grains and seeds that are on their list of foods that are safe. Here’s why…

As an earlier study published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics revealed, single-ingredient, inherently gluten-free grains, seeds and flours made from them are not always really gluten-free. When researchers tested 22 single-ingredient, naturally gluten-free products (not labeled gluten-free) from various manufacturers, they found that 32% of them showed gluten cross-contamination—in excess of 20 ppm, the limit most experts consider safe for people with celiac disease. In fact, three types of products—soy flour, millet flour and sorghum flour—had gluten levels substantially higher, including one brand of soy flour that contained a startling 2,925 ppm of gluten. That’s enough to make many people with celiac disease really sick!

IS IT REALLY GLUTEN-FREE?

Tricia Thompson, RD, a dietitian specializing in gluten-free nutrition and founder of Gluten Free Watchdog, explained that cross-contamination can occur anywhere along the food-processing line, from the field where a grain is grown to the manufacturing plant where a food is packaged. Reputable manufacturers of products marketed as gluten-free generally take several steps to ensure that their products are safe—for instance, some test every batch of foods they make.

What this study indicates is that gluten cross-contamination can and does happen—and that it’s a possibility for virtually any inherently gluten-free grain, flour or seed. Without batch or at least periodic testing, it would be dangerous to simply assume that an inherently gluten-free grain or processed food is gluten-free. Unfortunately, the FDA’s new rule also does not require manufacturers of gluten-labeled food to test for gluten contamination. To be certain that a particular product has been tested, look for third-party certification or check the company’s website.

In another study, 158 multiple-ingredient products labeled gluten-free were assessed for gluten contamination. Results of the study were published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The good news is that 95% were indeed safe for people with celiac—they had less than 20 ppm gluten. But—that still leaves the remaining 5% that were not safe. And for people with celiac to stay healthy, they need to trust that 100% of products labeled gluten-free truly are safe for them to eat.