10
Dec
2015
13
Oct
2015
Lingering Questions Remain about Gluten-Free Cheerios Recall and Safety
Background: On October 5th General Mills announced a recall of certain lots of regular Yellow Box and Honey Nut Cheerios. According to the press release the lots impacted were produced at the facility in Lodi, California during a four-day period for Yellow Box and thirteen-day period for Honey Nut. On October 7th, Gluten Free Watchdog sent an open letter to the General Mills' Cheerios Team regarding the recall. On October 9th General Mills responded. To view the original letter and...
17
Aug
2015
Gluten Content of Gluten Digestive Enzyme Supplements: A Very Brief Summary
This is not a commentary about whether individuals with gluten-related disorders should use gluten digestive aids or whether there is any benefit to these supplements. For an excellent article on enzymes and current medical thinking, please see the interview conducted by NFCA available HERE. As many of you know Gluten Free Watchdog has been sending various “glutenase” enzyme supplements to the lab for gluten testing. Initial results were very troublesome. But based on additional testing following a modified testing...
22
Jul
2015
Gluten-Free Cheerios: Take Two
Update August 14, 2015 General Mills and I spoke via phone on August 13th. Here are some of the positives… They are looking to source some oats from suppliers who follow a purity protocol. Note: I offered to help facilitate this process by reaching out to my contacts that supply pure oats to manufacturers. General Mills accepted this offer. Three suppliers were contacted this morning. Update: As of 8/27/15 email correspondence with General Mills on whether they were truly interested in purchasing pure oats...
04
Aug
2014
Foods Labeled Gluten-Free Must Now be in Compliance with the FDA Gluten-Free Labeling Rule
August 5th--The compliance date for the gluten-free labeling rule has finally arrived. Here is some basic (and not so basic) information about the rule. Section One: Summary of the Rule 1. This rule applies to the labeling of foods as packaged (including dietary supplements) regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and intended for human use. Note: This rule does not cover pet foods, cosmetics, prescription and non prescription drugs, food regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture, and beverages regulated by...
22
Apr
2014
Product alert: Greens Plus bar contains malt yet labeled gluten-free
Product Alert: Greens Plus Whey Crisp Protein Bar Last week the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) alerted Gluten Free Watchdog that a variety of Greens Plus bar contains barley malt yet is labeled gluten-free. Barley malt is not allowed in gluten-free foods. To read the NFCA alert for this product click here. Note: While manufacturers labeling their foods gluten-free have until August, 2014 to comply with the FDA's gluten-free labeling rule, malt, malt extract, and malt syrup have...
16
Apr
2014
What I Ate Wednesday Registered Dietitian Edition
What I Ate Wednesday Registered Dietitian Edition (#WIAWRD) WIAWRD was not something I had heard of until last week when Debra Riedesel, owner of the websites cyclediet.com and sensitivedietitian.com “tagged” me to write about what I ate Wednesday. To read Debra's post click here. Obviously, the content of this post is different from what you usually find in this space but it is always interesting to learn about what other people actually...
01
Dec
2013
Gluten Contamination of Gluten-Free Foods Sold in the US
Thomas Grace and I recently published two years worth of testing data from Gluten Free Watchdog in the journal Practical Gastroenterology. The pdf is available here. Excerpt: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released the long awaited rule on the labeling of food as gluten-free. Labeled gluten-free food regulated by the FDA and sold in the United States must contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. The objective of this evaluation is to assess the actual gluten content...
12
Jul
2013
Omission Beer: The controversy over gluten-free labeling of malt-based beverages continues
Update July 12, 2013. I don't know about all of you but I am getting a little fatigued from the beer “issue.” BUT … Last evening I was forwarded some documents related to Craft Brew Alliance (Omission). According to the email included with these documents they are not considered confidential and will be in the public domain soon (when they are, I will post the links). When I have more information regarding how the scientific community views the information contained in these...
14
Jan
2013