Folks with gluten-related disorders: Please don’t eat products from Deland Bakery if they are not labeled gluten-free

Folks with gluten-related disorders: Please don’t eat products from Deland Bakery if they are not labeled gluten-free

Deland Bakery (along with Sami’s Bakery) has used some “creative” labeling over the years. If you are new to a gluten-free diet, please know that folks with a gluten-related disorder should not eat products from either of these bakeries that are NOT labeled gluten-free.

Background information: A couple weeks ago, Gluten Free Watchdog contacted Deland Bakery and asked them to please explain why the Contains statement on products in their natural line includes the verbiage “Wheat, Gluten or Yeast”? This statement is the same statement used for years by Sami’s Bakery (since corrected on actual product packaging but not on the website). Deland was also asked to provide the ingredient sources of “wheat, gluten, or yeast” and to provide an explanation as to why the word “or” is used in the Contains statement.

Deland Bakery response (in part):

  • “We recently had a packaging change. Our old bags use to be a clear bag and we would hand lay each sticker label for our bread – on this Label it was very small and separate from our ingredients list and did use “Contains: Wheat, gluten, or yeast.” We have since changed our bags to now a fully printed bag with our information directly on it, and we have our statement directly under included ingredients now stating “Contains: Wheat, gluten and yeast.” We made this change to allow our customers to see this better so we can be more transparent about our bread.” 
  • “Our all natural millet bread is not made in a dedicated gluten free facility and cannot be considered gluten free. It is made with the same machines as our organic bread which does have wheat and yeast. The mother dough used to make the All Natural line has a small amount of certified organic gluten in it.”

Gluten Free Watchdog response (in part):

  • Contains statements are regulated under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act and they apply to actual ingredients in a product.
  • FALCPA currently covers 8 allergens, including wheat but not gluten or yeast.
  • If gluten is an ingredient in this product then it must be declared in the ingredients list.
  • There is no obvious source of wheat or yeast in the ingredients list in this bread.
  • When shared lines are used, a “may contain” statement can be included on product packaging.
  • May contain statements are used by some manufacturers to indicate situations when cross contact may occur.

Deland Bakery has not responded to the last email from Gluten Free Watchdog.

2016 FDA warning letter to Sami’s Bakery included the following statement in reference to similar labeling practices (i.e., “Contains Wheat, Gluten or Yeast”):

  • The label declares “Contains Gluten, Wheat, or Yeast.” Under FALCPA, if a “Contains” statement is included on a food label, the statement must identify the names of the food sources for all major food allergens that either are in the food or are contained in ingredients of the food; this would include incidental additives. We question the intent of the use of the term “or” in this “Contains” statement. Furthermore, gluten and yeast are not considered major food allergens. Based on the ingredient list, there does not appear to be any obvious sources of gluten, wheat or yeast ingredients, but based on the gluten analysis, the product appears to contain more than just incidental amounts of gluten. In addition, if gluten or wheat containing ingredient(s) are added ingredients in the manufacturing of the product, the ingredient(s) must be declared as part of the ingredient statement in accordance with 21 CFR 101.4.

Thank you to the Gluten Free Watchdog community member who put Deland Bakery back on our radar.

For more information, see:

https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/samis-pita-bakery-inc-497911-10262016

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Comments (2)

  • Angelica Reply

    Thank you for getting some clarity on this. It sounds like they make their all natural millet bread with an organic (wheat and probably added gluten) mother dough leaven. Is that right?

    Ever since I have been strict, I stayed away from Deland because of the oddness of the label. Once in a while I’m tempted to try it. Your warning is helpful, as always.

    December 31, 2020 at 6:32 am
    • Tricia Thompson Reply

      Unfortunately, I have no additional information other than what was provided by Deland Bakery: “The mother dough used to make the All Natural line has a small amount of certified organic gluten in it.”

      December 31, 2020 at 2:38 pm

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