Author - Tricia Thompson

Open letter to Trader Joe’s about their “gluten-free” rolled oats on behalf of the Gluten Free Watchdog community

Dear Trader Joe’s, In September of 2024, Gluten Free Watchdog commissioned testing on 6 bags of Trader Joe’s gluten-free rolled oats. Results ranged from < 5 parts per million to 120 parts per million of gluten. Full results are available at https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/product/trader-joes-gluten-free-rolled-oats-2024/1372. These results were shared with you but you have chosen to not respond. We also tested a bag of Trader Joe’s gluten-free rolled oats and Trader Joe’s organic gluten-free rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds that were part of...

How to file a gluten-free food complaint with the FDA starting October 1, 2024: The process has changed

On October 1, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration updated the way in which consumers must go about reporting food-related issues to the agency. You will no longer contact an FDA consumer complaint coordinator. Reports should now be filed with the Human Foods Program either by phone or through the online safety reporting portal: Phone 1-888-723-3366 Online safety reporting portal https://www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov/SRP2/en/Home.aspx?sid=688fce1c-79e8-4f07-9c30-376eeea453dd. The Human Foods Program will assess and evaluate complaints. The new Office of Inspections and Investigations will follow up with manufacturers as...

Correcting the Record: Gluten Free Watchdog’s Testing of Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Almost Everything Bagels

Background For those of you who have not been following the Moms Across America testing of gluten-free labeled products, and in particular Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Almost Everything Bagels, here are links to the test results which have been moved to the public side of the website, along with a more concise summary: Test results: https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/product/trader-joes-gf-almost-everything-bagels-2024/1348 Summary: https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/test-result-from-moms-across-america-on-trader-joes-gluten-free-almost-everything-bagels-possibly-false-positive/ Current situation There has recently been a mischaracterization of Gluten Free Watchdog posted by another website covering this testing issue. The following statement was posted on celiac.com and...

Test result from Moms Across America for Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Almost Everything Bagels Possible False Positive

Gluten Free Watchdog tested Trader Joe’s Almost Everything Bagels due to consumer concerns over the results of testing commissioned by the group Moms Across America. This is a complex test report summary. Please bear with us as we try to explain the discrepancy between the Moms Across America test results and Gluten Free Watchdog test results. Bottom line: The test result from Moms Across America for Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Almost Everything Bagels may be a false positive, especially if the lab did...

Yeast extract confusion redux

In 2019, we wrote about a consumer complaint we received for a labeled gluten-free soup. The product includes the ingredient “flavors (including yeast extract).” Long story short, the consumer who contacted us was told by customer service representatives that brewer’s yeast is the source of the yeast extract. However, she did not receive a definitive answer regarding whether the brewer’s yeast is spent brewer’s yeast. Fast forward to 2024. Gluten Free Watchdog received a consumer inquiry about the autolyzed yeast extract...

Recall notices for undeclared wheat: Why is celiac disease not mentioned in company announcements?

Celiac disease is serious. It would be helpful if manufacturers and the FDA acknowledged this in recall notices for undeclared wheat. This is particularly important when a product is labeled gluten-free or makes a “made with no gluten-containing ingredients”* claim on product packaging. Two recent recalls for undeclared wheat state in the company announcement that, “People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product.” BUT...

Gluten Testing of Food Containing Barley Amylase: Poster Presented at AOMSC 2023

To download the poster presented at the Asia-Oceania Mass Spectrometry Conference, please see: https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PosterAOMSC20230703_AO-MSC_MN_Poster.pdf AOMSC 2023 Poster Abstract Investigation of foods containing beta-amylase for gluten content Mitchell G. Nye-Wood (a), Tricia Thompson (b), Margaret Clegg (b), Michelle L. Colgrave (*a) School of Science, and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia (a) Gluten Free Watchdog, LLC, Manchester, MA (b) Gluten proteins are unique food allergens that are a common dietary component for many people...

Gluten-free oats remain complicated as 2023 comes to a close: New article from Gluten Free Watchdog

Our article, Gluten cross contact in oats: Retrospective database analysis 2011 to 2023 was recently published in Frontiers Nutrition in the special research topic, Recent Breakthrough in Gluten Contamination, Volume II. Are you interested in a brief overview? Abstract It is long-established that oats are at substantial risk for cross contact with gluten containing grain. Specially processed gluten-free oats, whether purity protocol or mechanically/optically sorted, made it possible for this grain to be included in a gluten-free diet in the U.S. Gluten Free Watchdog...

FDA Action Alert: Add your voice to help FDA modernize recalls

On October 18, 2023 Gluten Free Watchdog submitted comments to the public docket No. FDA-2023-N- 2393 (Modernizing the Recall Process) expanding upon our September 29, 2023 presentation Improving FDA Recalls: A Texas Case Study given at the public meeting held by FDA. Our comments can be viewed at https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FDACommentreRecallsGFWDfinal.pdf. Please consider submitting a comment to the docket in support of comments submitted by Gluten Free Watchdog. Comments are due soon--October 27th. To submit, please go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2023-N-2393-0001 and click on "comment."...