Companies caught selling falsely-labelled food
New Australian research has found that some companies manufacturing gluten-free foods might need to test their products more frequently, after some samples were found to contain gluten.
While the majority of gluten-free food tested had no detectable gluten, the research suggests that in some cases manufacturing processes could be improved in the interests of patients trying their best to adhere to a strictly gluten-free diet.
The study, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, was conducted by a team led by Dr Jason Tye-Din, head of coeliac research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and gastroenterology consultant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The study tested 256 commonly purchased manufactured foods labelled as ‘gluten-free’ at the National Measurement Institute in Melbourne.
If gluten was detected and confirmed with a follow up test, then a fresh sample was purchased and analysed to assess whether the contamination was isolated or affecting multiple batches.
The findings revealed that one in 40 foods labelled as ‘gluten-free’ did not comply with the national standard of ‘no detectable gluten’.
Dr Tye-Din said the results were important for coeliac patients whose health depended on a gluten-free diet.
“Patients with coeliac disease require a strict gluten-free diet for their treatment and should be able to trust that food labelled as ‘gluten-free’ is what it says it is.
“While it was pleasing to see that the majority of samples had no detectable gluten, the fact that gluten was detected in some samples tells us better processes could be put in place in the interests of people who require a gluten-free diet.
“For instance, the study found a ‘gluten-free’ pasta that contained more than 3mg of gluten in a standard single serve. This is a minimal amount but it could have a harmful impact on patients with coeliac disease if consumed frequently,” Dr Tye-Din said.
Dr Tye-Din said the researchers had notified the manufacturers of products containing detectable gluten to initiate a constructive dialouge about how their gluten-free food production processes could be improved.
Do you try and buy gluten-free products? Do these findings disturb you?
A dear friend of mine was celebrating her 70th birthday. She is Jewish and they had on the table Bagels, they were delicious, so next time I went along to Woolies I checked out the bread department and found the Bagels, they were sweating inside the bag and squeezing them found they had been frozen and were now defrosting. They were supposed to be FRESH as the label showed. I left them alone.