Gluten free living: labels labels labels

Hey, I'm back! Sorry for a little while without posting, I've been doing normal fun summer kid stuff. like swimming every day, scaling some rock climbing walls, jumping on trampolines, and other fun activities! 

Today I'm talking about ingredient warnings. Usually, products have a warning like WARNING: CONTAINS WHEAT. Now, just because a label does not say this, doesn't mean it's GLUTEN-free. Read through the ENTIRE list of ingredients to make sure it also doesn't have barley, rye, oats, or granola, all gluten-containing. Some packages don't have ANY warning, so, if you don't know, check. If you're unsure, check and double check. If you're sure, but it's not one of the listed GF brands with which you are familiar, check again, because sometimes ingredients change.

That's not the only warning  ('contains wheat'). There are also the warnings MAY CONTAIN and MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF. Here's what you should do:

MAY CONTAIN: Best not to risk it. Don't have it, unless you have some gluten enzyme pills and you do not have severe symptoms from being glutened. These pills help break down gluten before it reaches your stomach. HOWEVER, don't go thinking, “Gluten-free? Whatever. I have these pills, so now, once again, I CAN EAT ANYTHIIIIING! MWAaahahahahah...” No. They are not 100% confirmed and still in the works, so only use them on the “may contain” warnings, if you really want to eat the product or have no other choice. They're expensive, though...just to warn you.

MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF: Again, best not to risk it... you still want to keep your risk of ingesting gluten to zero.

Keep in mind this definition from Celiac.com:

Celiac.com 03/29/2006 - "Gluten-free" as defined by the Codex Alimentarius, a Geneva-based international organization that is jointly run by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, is defined as follows:
Section 1.1: “This standard applies to foodstuffs and ingredients which have been especially processed or prepared to meet the dietary needs of persons intolerant to gluten".
It goes on in section 2.1 to state that “Gluten-Free” foods are food stuffs so described:

• a) Consisting of or made only from ingredients which do not contain any prolamins from wheat or all Triticum species such as spelt, kamut, or durum, wheat, barley, oats, spelt or their crossbred varieties with a gluten level not exceeding 20 parts per million (ppm): or
• b) Consisting of ingredients from wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt or their crossbred varieties, which have been rendered “gluten-free”; with a gluten level not exceeding 200ppm: or
• c) Any mixture of the two ingredients as in a) and b) with a gluten level not exceeding 200ppm.

That's all for this post, hope it helps clear up some label confusion next time you are shopping! ;)