The FDA has approved a regulation that also regulates in the U.S. the use on the label of gluten free, and similar claims, which can be affixed on a voluntary basis as long as the gluten content in the food does not exceed 20 ppm, the same limit already defined in Europe. This is an important step forward for the approximately 3 million people with celiac disease living in the United States, who will finally be able to distinguish foods that are compatible with their dietary needs.
A one-year transition period has been established to allow local operators to adapt to the new rules. An estimated 5 percent of products still on the U.S. market with a ‘gluten-free’ label exceed the amount stipulated in the regulations.
The only negative aspect of the FDA regulation concerns the possibility of presenting as ‘gluten-free’ any kind of food, including those that do not contain gluten naturally. In Europe, however, it is not permissible to promote the absence of gluten in products that are generally free of its sources.
Growing American awareness of celiac disease will offer new export insights from Italy, Europe’s leading country in the production, research and development of gluten-free diet foods of absolute excellence.
