New Canadian Gluten Labeling Regulations

Recently, the Canadian Celiac Disease Society had a major breakthrough for all people in their country with allergies. After almost 20 years of hard work, they have something to celebrate! Canadians who require a gluten-free diet will no longer have to guess if gluten is a hidden ingredient in items they purchase at the grocery store. The regulations are in full affect after August 4th, 2012. Check out more news on the story here.Below is the info released by the Canadian Celiac Association.


"Gluten Free" defined

When you see the words “gluten free” on a package, what does it mean? Now there are clear
guidelines set out in regulation and in implementation guidelines from Health Canada.
1. No ingredients that contain any gluten proteins from barley, oats, rye, triticale, or wheat,
including kamut and spelt, have been deliberately added to the product.
2. No ingredients that contain modified or hydrolyzed proteins from those same grains have
been deliberately added to the product.
3. Gluten levels in the product from accidental gluten contamination are less than 20 parts
per million (ppm).
4. Good manufacturing practices have been used to minimize the risk of accidental
contamination from gluten grains.
5. Any ingredients made from gluten grain have been processed to remove the gluten protein
using methods that have been demonstrated to be effective. Wheat glucose syrup and
wheat maltodextrin are ingredients that fit in this category.
6. Recognized testing methodologies have been used to measure gluten levels.

What’s changed?
1. A specific limit for the maximum amount of gluten present as a result of accidental
contamination has been set. This value was set based on scientific evidence on the safe
threshold for people with Celiac disease and estimates of the amount of gluten-free food
people consume per day.
2. Ingredients derived from wheat that have been demonstrated to contain no gluten protein
are permitted in gluten-free food. The most common ingredients that fit this class are
glucose syrup derived from wheat and maltodextrin derived from wheat. Both of these
products are carbohydrates that do not contain any protein.
3. Manufacturers have been given guidance about what tests to use to detect gluten,
especially when there is concern about hydrolyzed or fragmented proteins which can be
difficult to detect.
4. Clear directions have been given that it is not acceptable to deliberately add small amounts
of gluten products, even if the overall level of gluten is less than 20 ppm. This includes tiny
amounts of wheat flour in a seasoning mixture or barley malt used to add flavor.

Find the original PDF here.