Kudos to You, Allergen-free Food Manufacturer

One of my frustrations in looking for new food items is to find a new gluten-free product, only to read the label and see that it contains soy or milk. More and more products are being formulated, which is great; no complaints there! It's just that sometimes I wish gluten-free manufacturers would take that extra step and eliminate the trace allergens.

Soy lecithin, for example, appears in a lot of products that otherwise would be safe for me -- and people like me -- but because it's included in the formulation, I can't eat it. Nonetheless, I appreciate that there are new gf items coming out every day; for those on just a gluten-restricted diet, these ingredients don't pose problems, and we're all just happy the industry is expanding.

Something with which I do have a real issue is how some products are produced. Products created in shared environments are a problem. A shared environment means that food containing some allergen(s) is prepared at the same facility as a supposedly allergen-free item. These products always are suspect, because there is a possibility of cross-contamination. For example, let's say a product's label claims it's gluten-free, but the label also indicates that products containing wheat are made in the same place -- a potentially problematic situation. Is the manufacturing line for the gluten-free product 200 feet away from the line with the wheat-based products, or 5 feet away? There's no easy way to tell if this supposedly gf product safe to eat, other than trying it very carefully and monitoring for any adverse reactions.

Much worse are the products that claim to be gluten-free, but are made on shared equipment, which renders the product completely unsafe (and not gluten-free, by the way). In that case, the formulation may be gluten-free, but the end product is not, and savvy consumers will not buy or consume it. As such, I recommend that persons on restricted diets always read labels carefully to know exactly what it is they're consuming. Labels themselves may not always spell out the whole truth, either, but that's a discussion I'll save for another day.

There is a cost in dedicating facilities and making them allergen-free, both for the producer and ultimately, the end-user, but for those of us on restricted diets due to allergy/intolerance, products coming out of dedicated facilities are much, much safer to consume. I am more than willing to pay the extra cost for a product I know is safe.

All that said, I absolutely commend the food manufacturers who truly understand the issues at hand and produce in dedicated, allergen-free environments. There are quite a few at the moment, and their numbers are growing. Thank you -- your efforts have not gone unnoticed.