Tricia Thompson |

14 May 2019

Celiac Disease Awareness Month Call to Action: Email your representative TODAY in support of the Gluten in Medicine Disclosure Act of 2019 (sample text provided)

In honor of Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Gluten Free
Watchdog will be issuing four calls to action (one each week).

The third call to action pertains to the Gluten in Medicine
Disclosure Act of 2019.

Please personalize the sample letter pasted below and
adapted from a letter provided to Gluten Free Watchdog by Rachel Jenkins,
Legislative Assistant to Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-13). Email this letter to
your local representative. A state-by-state directory is available at https://www.house.gov/representatives

You can also find your representative by zip code at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative?fbclid=IwAR0XjoajmDCz7loMHtt2-Tx8K6-Rvf6QifiyVklSPejTw1J7A7ene0gwbUA

For more […]

13 May 2019

Letter to FDA Regarding Allergen Advisory Statements for Wheat on Foods Labeled Gluten-Free

Gluten Free Watchdog’s first call to action for Celiac Disease Awareness Month 2019 was a request for the community to submit photos of product labels that included both a gluten-free claim and an allergen advisory statement for wheat. The response was overwhelming. Thank you! Some of the photos are included in the attached letter to FDA regarding advisory statements. Please read the letter and let me know if you have any questions. https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CallToActionMayContainStatementsFDA3.pdf

By Tricia Thompson Celiac Disease Awareness Month 2019 3 Comments Read more...

08 May 2019

Celiac Disease Awareness Month Call to Action #2: Restaurant menu items designated as “gluten-free” but not recommended for those with celiac disease

In honor of Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Gluten Free
Watchdog will be issuing four calls to action (one each week).

The second call to action pertains to restaurants with menu items designated as “gluten-free” but not recommended for those with celiac disease.

FDA states the following about gluten-free claims and restaurants*:

“If restaurants or other retail food establishments wish to make “gluten-free” claims (or the synonymous claims “no gluten” “free of gluten” or “without gluten”) for any of their menu items, […]

By Tricia Thompson Celiac Disease Awareness Month 2019 18 Comments Read more...

01 May 2019

Celiac Disease Awareness Month Call to Action: Allergen Advisory Statements for Wheat on Labeled Gluten-Free Foods

In honor of Celiac Disease Awareness Month, Gluten Free Watchdog will be issuing four calls to action (one each week).

The first call to action pertains to allergen advisory statements for wheat on labeled gluten-free foods. Help Gluten Free Watchdog raise awareness among FDA staff about the use of these statements by industry.

Please take photos of products you have in hand (versus product images and information posted online by manufacturers) that are labeled gluten-free AND include a may contain […]

By Tricia Thompson Celiac Disease Awareness Month 2019 0 Comments Read more...

30 Apr 2019

Oats Revisited: Quaker Gluten-Free Oats

Due in large part to data published in the
public domain by Quaker, the celiac disease community continues to learn about
the nature of gluten grain cross contact in oats, including that:

Grains of wheat, barley, and rye are unevenly distributed within a given amount of oats. Despite what may be the best efforts of suppliers, gluten-containing grains have been found in both final product purity protocol oats and final product mechanically and optically sorted oats.See https://www.somatopublications.com/oat-consumption-by-celiac-disease-patients-outcomes-range-from-harmful-to-beneficial-depending-on-the-purity-of-the-oats.pdf

Based on Gluten Free Watchdog’s social […]

By Tricia Thompson Gluten-Free Oats 8 Comments Read more...

30 Apr 2019

Call to Action: Gluten in Medicine Disclosure Act of 2019

Gluten in Medicine Disclosure Act of 2019. Representatives Ryan and Cole introduced this bill on April 3, 2019. The bill currently has 8 co-sponsors.

The text of the bill is available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2074/text?fbclid=IwAR3Xr7YABCf4sFERNHO00yOkq7HCV2h1DHTnVXWL1OzKlc6znHEb9nY9n9s.

Please support this bill by contacting your representative. A state-by-state directory is available at https://www.house.gov/representatives.

You can also find your representative by zip code at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative?fbclid=IwAR0XjoajmDCz7loMHtt2-Tx8K6-Rvf6QifiyVklSPejTw1J7A7ene0gwbUA.

I was contacted by Representative Ryan’s office and asked
for my opinion regarding wording of the bill. The bill currently reads in part
that a drug […]

By Tricia Thompson FDA Action Alerts, Gluten-Free Labeling 1 Comment Read more...

10 Apr 2019

Gluten Free Watchdog Statement on Purity Protocol Oat Suppliers

There is no standardized definition for purity protocol oats*.
As a result, not all oats promoted by suppliers as purity protocol are the
same. At this time, Gluten Free Watchdog includes four companies in our listing
of suppliers providing purity protocol oats to manufacturers, namely Avena
Foods, GF Harvest, Montana Gluten-Free Processors, and Glanbia Nutritionals.
You can read about their protocols at https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/oats-produced-under-a-gluten-free-purity-protocol-listing-of-suppliers-and-manufacturers/

*GFCO along with representatives from Avena Foods, GF Harvest, Montana Gluten-Free Processors, and Cream Hill Estate (no longer in business) co-authored a […]

By Tricia Thompson Gluten-Free Oats 1 Comment Read more...

02 Apr 2019

What we’ve learned from 15 years of testing food for gluten & 8 years running Gluten Free Watchdog

The vast majority of
manufacturers of gluten-free foods are doing it right!

87% of labeled gluten-free foods commissioned for testing through Gluten Free Watchdog test below 5 parts per million of gluten (the lowest level that can be quantified using the R5 ELISA Mendez Method).

96% of labeled gluten-free foods commissioned for
testing through Gluten Free Watchdog test below 20 parts per million of
gluten.

4% of labeled gluten-free foods commissioned for
testing through Gluten Free Watchdog test at or above 20 parts per […]

By Tricia Thompson Testing for Gluten Contamination 0 Comments Read more...

21 Mar 2019

Morning musings about testing food for gluten & the Nima Sensor

The following is paragraph form of a tweet thread posted by @GFWatchdog to Twitter on March 21, 2019.

A few musings this morning about testing food for gluten & the Nima Sensor. Background, I have been commissioning testing of gluten-free food for about 15 years. Does this make me an expert? No. I am a dietitian fortunate to have learned from the experts—the scientists who specialize in testing food for gluten, including the late Dr. Mendez (you may recognize his […]

By Tricia Thompson Nima Sensor, Testing for Gluten Contamination 1 Comment Read more...

14 Mar 2019

Confused by USDA ingredient & allergen labeling? Read the facts recently confirmed by the agency

Over the past week, two of the amazing members of the Gluten Free Watchdog community reached out regarding issues with USDA labeling. In case you sometimes find yourself in a state of labeling confusion, here are the facts recently confirmed to GFWD by USDA on March 11th and 12th, 2019.

1. ALL ingredients must be declared by their “common or usual name” in foods regulated by the USDA.

2. Certain ingredients can be declared collectively, such as
flavoring. BUT protein-containing ingredients must […]

By Tricia Thompson Gluten-Free Labeling 1 Comment Read more...

Author: Tricia Thompson