Both the Celiac Sprue Association and the Gluten Intolerance Group certify gluten free food products and issue special logos to items that meet their specifications.The Gluten Intolerance Group gives its seal of approval to products that contain less than 10 parts-per-million million. This certification must be repeated annually. The Celiac Sprue Association has a stricter standard, approving products with no more than five parts per million gluten. To visualize what the phrase "parts per million" actually means, remember that 1 part-per-million is the equivalent of one penny in $10,000 or 1 minute in two years.

I suggest that you visit both sites to see what these symbols look like, and buy with confidence whenever you see one of them. These certification programs will be become very important if and when our Food and Drug Administration adopts the standard that any product with less than  20 parts-per-million can be labeled "gluten free". Both groups hold manufacturers to a stricter standard, but doing so reduce the number of foods that can be recommended.

Published 06/09/09