From the point of view of a person who suffers from Celiac or D.H. or other gluten related problem, what country had the best labeling laws.
I hear the USA law being worked on has "20 parts per million" as "Gluten Free" but a number of people say they react to 20 ppm
Australia, if I got it right, says either "5 parts per million" or "no detectable gluten" which I guess is the same right now because, from what I understand 5 ppm is the least amount that can be detected.
A number of people have complained about countries in Europe with "Gluten Free" labeled products that have things like Codex Wheat. I do not even know what that means! Is that like buckwheat? What is Codex Gluten Free anyway? Is there a measurable standard?
The Philippines has a new law proposed for gluten that ties the Philippines to the Codex Alimentarius. It allows 0.05 grams gluten per 100 grams of food. If I did my math correctly, that would be 500 parts per million... way more that what Celiacs in America are complaining about.
Below is the Philippine law. You may not think it is important, but a 19 year old Celiac from the UK is here for 10 Weeks and has live here with whatever laws are here.
So who has the best gluten free laws and who has the worst ones?
Philippine Congress
(House Bill 03345)
NO. HB03345
FULL TITLE : AN ACT ESTABLISHING A GLUTEN-FREE LABELING STANDARD AND LABELING REQUIREMENT ON FOODSTUFFS AND INGREDIENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN PROCESSED OR PREPARED TO MEET THE DIETARY NEEDS OF PERSONS INTOLERANT TO GLUTEN
SHORT TITLE : "Gluten-Free Labeling Standard Act"
ABSTRACT : The bill proposes the adoption of a regulation on the use of "gluten-free" on food product labels that is in line with the Codex Alimentarius (a Geneva-based international organization that is jointly run by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).
BY CONGRESSMAN/WOMAN VILLAFUERTE, LUIS R.
DATE FILED ON 2007-12-19
CO-AUTHORS:
ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN G.
ARROYO, DIOSDADO IGNACIO JOSE MARIA
REFERRAL ON 2007-12-19 TO THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY
SIGNIFICANCE: NATIONAL
DATE READ: 2007-12-19
Note: Codex Alimentarius says 0.05 grams per 100 grams... I figure that is 500 ppm and that would be 100 times more than the Australian Standard and 25 times as much as the proposed USA standard.