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Diving overview:
- The FDA has taken the following actions: Food Manufacturer Needed We must disclose if our products contain gluten or other established food allergens.
- The FDA is requesting more information from stakeholders to determine how to improve food labeling transparency for gluten-containing products.
- The FDA is requesting data on adverse effects for ingredients including rye, barley, and other non-wheat gluten-containing grains. We are also currently seeking information on how often food companies disclose when their products contain gluten.
Dive Insights:
Gluten disclosure was one of the few concrete policy proposals from the Trump administration. Last fall’s “Making America Healthy Again” report.This defines the White House’s top priorities in addressing chronic childhood diseases. The strategy focused on ingredient transparency, representing potential action on ultra-processed foods or front-of-package nutrition labels.
“Today, we advance the guidance of the MAHA Strategy by requiring fundamental transparency about the ingredients in packaged foods that contribute to health conditions and diet-related allergies,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “Americans deserve clear, reliable information about what’s in their food and how it’s made.”
In the United States, companies must disclose only if their products contain one of nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame.
Because rye and barley are not included in the list, consumers with celiac disease or on a gluten-free diet are left “to tiptoe around food” and “second-guess their food options,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement.
The FDA said its ability to formulate regulations was hampered by “serious data gaps,” including a lack of information about issues related to cross-contamination. The FDA requested data on the gluten content of oats due to cross-contact.
Delivery of allergens is a major issue for regulators in formulating policy. Many foods do not contain gluten, but they may have been processed in facilities that process gluten-based ingredients. As a result, food companies often use voluntary “may contain gluten” disclosures out of an abundance of caution. Overused and potentially confusing to consumers.
Last November, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Announced new guidelines Set thresholds for when companies should use the “may include” label. The organization reaffirmed that foods with a gluten content of 20 ppm or less can be called gluten-free. However, if a serving of food does not accidentally contain more than 4 milligrams of gluten, the product does not need a “may contain” label.
In a statement, the Celiac Disease Foundation said the FDA’s Request for information “It’s an early but significant move toward greater transparency.”
The foundation added, “This FDA announcement is not a final decision, but an important first step.” “But the direction is clear: transparency, science, and lived experience are finally coming together.”
