food labelling gluten-free labelling of foods 23 pages english the food and drug administration fda is proposing to define the term gluten-free for voluntary use in the labelling of foods to mean that the food does not contain any of the following an ingredient that is any species of the grains wheat rye barley or a crossbred hybrid of these grains all noted grains are collectively referred to as prohibited grains an ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has not been processed to remove gluten e.g. wheat flour an ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has been processed to remove gluten e.g. wheat starch if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million ppm or more gluten in the food or 20 ppm or more gluten. a food that bears the claim gluten-free or similar claim in its labelling and fails to meet the conditions specified in the proposed definition of gluten-free would be deemed misbranded. fda also is proposing to deem misbranded a food bearing a gluten-free claim in its labelling if the food is inherently free of gluten and if the claim does not refer to all foods of that same type e.g. milk a gluten-free food or all milk is gluten-free . in addition a food made from oats that bears a gluten-free claim in its labelling would be deemed misbranded if the claim suggests that all such foods are gluten-free or if 20 ppm or more gluten is present in the food. establishing a definition of the term gluten-free and uniform conditions for its use in the labelling of foods is needed to ensure that individuals with celiac disease are not misled and are provided with truthful and accurate information with respect to foods so labelled. this proposed action is in response to the food allergen labeling and consumer protection act of 2004 falcpa . fda issued a proposed rule at a257.g.akamaitech.net 7 257 2422 01jan20071800 edocket.access.gpo.gov 2007 e7-843.htm to amend its regulations by adding a new section 101.91 to title 21 of the code of federal regulations to define and establish conditions for use of the food labelling term gluten-free. the proposed provisions would apply to all foods regulated by fda that are marketed in the u.s. including those domestically produced and imported. the proposed rule provides that a food bearing a gluten-free or similar labelling claim e.g. free of gluten without gluten or no gluten cannot contain specified prohibited grains i.e. any species of wheat rye barley or their crossbred hybrids like triticale other ingredients derived from those grains that have not been rendered gluten-free or 20 parts per million or more gluten. the proposal also specifies how a gluten-free labelling claim for a food that inherently does not contain gluten could be stated