Yesterday we finished the judging for this year’s FreeFrom Food Awards. Over 500 products judged over three weeks by 57 different judges – and that’s not counting 10 children!! (The shortlist will be out next week so keep an eye on the awards site.) Here are some of the Store Cupboard entries lined up in the store rooms waiting for their moment in the sun.
Some really excellent products entered – we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves – and now feel distinctly fatter than we did three weeks ago!!
However, the judging was not without its moments of disagreement – not, normally, about winners but about the ever-fraught topic of labelling. What do precautionary ‘may contain’ warnings actually mean (a topic for a different blog…) – and what about oats? How should they appear in an ingredients list? How indeed!! And how should an oat-sensitive coeliac ‘read’ them?
In an attempt to elucidate this for one of our entrants I have just written the following. Do not attempt to read unless you have had at least two cups of coffee and are feeling very ‘switched in’….
How should oats be listed in an ingredients list?
The regulations state that:
‘You need to tell your customers if any food products you sell or provide contain any of the main 14 allergens as an ingredient. The 14 allergens are:’
- ‘Celery’
- ‘Cereals containing gluten – including wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan), rye, barley and oats’
- Crustaceans such as prawns, crab and lobsters
- Eggs’ etc etc down to Sulphites
But…. gluten is not, technically, an allergen.
Gluten is a protein, made up of, in the case of wheat, barley and rye, the elements gliadin and glutenin; in the case oats of it is made up of avenins. An allergen is a type of antigen or structural molecule.
So the regulation is confusing from the start.
Of course, wheat, barley, rye and oats can also be antigens (allergens) and it is perfectly possible for someone to have a genuine allergic reaction to eating them. But they are not included in the list in their own right as potential allergens as only relatively few people have allergic reactions to them; they are included because they contain gluten.
Contradictory though this may seem, one can see why the regulations were phrased this way.
- Gluten is what is relevant to coeliacs.
- Coeliacs make up a very significant proportion of the allergic or food sensitive population that these regulations are trying to help – although of course coeliac disease is not an allergy but an autoimmune condition.
- So it made total sense to include gluten in the list of ingredients that needed to be highlighted.
- But once you drill down into the list for labelling purposes, because gluten and allergens are not the same thing, then whole thing becomes confusing and self contradictory.
However, what it means for the manufacturer is that, in order to abide strictly by the regulations, you need to highlight/bold ‘oats’ in your ingredients list, even when they are gluten free oats.
Unfortunately, this will probably just confuse the poor coeliac consumer who may worry that, because they have been highlighted, they are actually an allergen and therefore not safe for them……
Gluten free oats
As long as you are using gluten-free oats, then, according to the regulations, the product can be flagged as gluten free (eg under 20 parts per million of gluten) whether you specify that the oats are gluten free or not.
However, this is even more confusing for the consumer who doesn’t know about this aspect of the regulation. Therefore oat-tolerant coeliacs worry that if the oats in the ingredients do not state that they are gluten free, even if the overall declaration is gluten free, then the oats might not be.
So we would always advise any manufacturer to say ‘gluten-free oats’/’gluten-free oat flour’ etc whenever oats are mentioned in the ingredients.
In this context it is even more confusing for the consumer if an ingredients list contains both oats and oat flour and one is flagged as gluten free and other is not. Even if all the oats in the product actually are gluten free the oat tolerant coeliac may be, understandably, confused.
Have you followed me so far? If so, congratulations. And you can see why I do not feel strong enough to embark on the subject of ‘may contain’ labelling right now….
Am so glad you’ve written this, Michelle. As you know, non-emphasised oats in ingredients labelling is a pet frustration of mine, and I’ve argued since 2015 that brands need to get into line about this … but many still haven’t, including Nairn’s.
Another way to look at this is this: the barley in barley malt vinegar and the wheat in Codex wheat starch need to be emphasised because they are listed as gluten containing cereals, even though these particular ingredients are GF.
Ditto gluten free oats …
But, as I think we have ‘discussed’ on several occasions, Alex – I still believe that following the letter of the law in this one is actually creating more confusion for the consumer – exactly the opposite of what the regulations set out to do!!! Never mind – we will continue to agree to disagree….
Oh I think we agree on more than you think!
I do take the point that an emphasised ‘oats’ could concern an oat-tolerating coeliac. But the solution of declaring ‘gluten free oats’ – with the oats highlighted – is one I approve of, and resolves that problem. In fact, it’s one of the ways which the FSAI in Ireland recommend gluten free oats are labelled. (The other is by using an asterisk and explanatory note. See https://www.fsai.ie/legislation/food_legislation/food_information_fic/allergens.html)
With regard to the (rare) oat allergy, a highlighted oat (whether or not preceded with gluten free) is sufficient.
The bit I perhaps disagree with you on is this: “… oat-sensitive coeliacs worry that if the oats in the ingredients do not state that they are gluten free, even if the overall declaration is gluten free, then the oats might not be.”
…… Oat-sensitive coeliacs don’t care whether the oats are GF or not – they avoid both!
So I think so long as GF oats are described as GF oats, there should be no confusion for anybody even with emphasis on the ‘oats’ … It’s a shame the regulations have not specified this requirement, in fact. I may propose it to the FSA …
You are right in your last para, Alex – my mis-phrasing…. thank you and will go and correct!!
I think there is a lot of confusion about the definition of allergy.
There are some Coeliacs who cannot have codex wheat. I know a lady who reacts to many things that are labelled gluten free under the regulations on 20ppm. This means that she has to avoid a lot of products that have been produced specially for the Coeliac customer.
There certainly is, Stella – and certainly in this connection.
Very welcome article Michelle, thank you! I am *potentially* one of those oat sensitive coeliacs and indeed, I do not care whether the oats are GF or not, I avoid them all. That is tricky too, oats are in so many places! Luckily they are fairly slow moving.
Potentially because . . . . I am one those special silent coeliacs who has auto-immune reaction to gluten but no externally visible symptoms. Blessing and curse!