Gluten Free Labelling in Australia: Is anybody listening?

By Graham Price, The Coeliac Society of Australia Inc

Graham told delegates about gluten free labelling issues of concern to The Coeliac Society. These primarily relate to the increasing sensitivity of testing methods for gluten. In Australia, the Food Standards Code defines gluten free as 'no detectable gluten' (as long as the product does not contain ingredients derived from oats or malt).

Whereas the generally accepted limit of detection for gluten used to be 20ppm, it is now 5ppm, with some laboratories even maintaining they can detect levels as low as 3ppm. Therefore, for a product to be labelled 'gluten free' in Australia, it must contain less than 3ppm. Elsewhere in the world, products may be labelled gluten free even if they can be shown to contain low levels of gluten.

The internationally accepted 'safe' level of gluten that the majority of coeliac consumers can tolerate without adverse effects is 20ppm. With this in mind, The Coeliac Society have investigated options for conducting a sponsorship or endorsement program with a 20ppm limit that could be used instead of a gluten free label. However due to Food Standard 1.1a.2, which states that a label on or attached to a package or any advertising for a food product shall not contain the name of or a reference to any disease, this does not seem legally possible.

While well aware of the complexities, Graham stated the best solution for these issues is to amend current legislation so foods containing gluten at levels below 20ppm can be labelled as gluten free.

This presentation can be downloaded here.