5 Misconceptions about Gluten-Free Products that Almost Everyone Believes

Figuring out where the gluten is still hiding in your life
is no easy task, but how safe are gluten-free products?

If you've been on a gluten-free diet for a year or two, but you're still sick, figuring out where the gluten in your life is hiding is no easy task.

Despite what you're told by celiac experts and well-meaning celiac bloggers, many people cannot tolerate the level of gluten in traditional gluten-free products on a daily basis.

Whether that's true for you, or not, depends on your body's ability to fight the perceived threat that gluten ingestion always triggers. 

No symptoms doesn't equal no damage, but it's just as false to assume that everyone's body sustains equal damage to similar degrees of cross contamination.

An immune reaction to an invader is a perfectly natural phenomenon, which means the topic of the safety of gluten-free products is not a black and white issue.

The allowance of 20 ppm of gluten in gluten-free processed foods is not about the amount of gluten it takes to set off an immune system response.

The legal definition of gluten-free foods is what it takes to protect most celiacs and gluten intolerant individuals from physical damage.

The key word here is most.

The FDA has always admitted that gluten-free product labeling will not protect the most sensitive celiac among us. 

Instead, the gluten-free labeling law attempts to protect the greater majority of those sensitive to gluten, while giving the food industry the margin it needs to make a profit.

So yep. 

If you've been on a strict gluten-free diet but you're still having symptoms, gluten-free foods can keep you sick, so let's start with the top 5 misconceptions about gluten-free products that almost everyone in the gluten-free community believes:

Misconception #1: Gluten-Free Products are Made in Separate Facilities

Almost all products, including those labeled gluten free, are processed in a shared facility, with many of these products also produced on shared lines.

This is the norm.

Just like grains are harvested, stored, and transported using shared equipment, making even gluten-free grains highly likely to be contaminated with gluten, most manufacturers have not built separate, individual facilities.

Neither have they purchased new machines for their gluten-free product lines, even if they claim gluten-free facility status in their ads or on the package.

This misconception was revealed to the gluten-free community a few years ago.

At that time, popular bloggers were invited to tour the Betty Crocker gluten-free facility just before they released their gluten-free mixes.

Although, Betty Crocker, a company owned by General Mills, had been calling the facility a "dedicated gluten-free facility" it was not a separate building.

It was simply a separate wing of the same building.

Betty Crocker was defining the phrase "dedicated gluten-free facility" differently than the gluten-free community was.

For many, this was quite a shock at the time.

Most people with celiac disease have a misguided notion that the food industry is on our side. For some reason, most bloggers believe that the food industry really wants to help the gluten-free community.

They don't.

As Betty Crocker representatives told these popular bloggers at the convention they went to:

“We are a business."

They don't care about what the gluten-free community needs. They care about making a profit.

What's the problem for a super-sensitive celiac?

A separate wing can have contamination issues if their air conditioning systems are not completely separate.

There's also a problem if the people working in that dedicated part of the building haven't taken extra precautions to keep their hair, clothing, and skin clean of the gluten that comes into the other sections of the facility.

What they eat for lunch is also problematic.

Misconception #2: Gluten-Free Products are Made on Their Own Equipment

Another misconception is that most of the companies who produce gluten-free food use separate machines. Most celiacs believe that gluten-free food being run on the same equipment is rare.

It's not.

Most companies that produce gluten-free products also produce products made with gluten.

Often, both types of products are made on the very same machine.

For example, while Chex cereals are a popular go-to cereal among gluten-free dieters, General Mills doesn't run their Wheat Chex in a separate facility or even on a separate line.

Instead, they clean the machine after processing the Wheat Chex and before running their other gluten-free cereals. While some celiacs are able to tolerate these types of shared conditions, the degree to which you can clean a line is suspect.

For that reason, before the labeling law went into effect, most of the major brands were discarding the first run or two after processing something with gluten.

I doubt they were actually throwing the product away. It's more likely that they were selling it to off-brands and stores looking for a quality product that they could sell under their own name.

What to keep in mind:

A single breadcrumb or speck of flour dust contains a huge amount of gluten, so it doesn't take much cross-contact from a prior batch of product to ruin the next one for celiacs.

If the company sells the first run or two to a store brand or off-brand company, the likelihood of getting contaminated from that particular gluten-free product will be less than if the first run is also labeled gluten free and sold to the celiac community as safe.

Today, this practice is harder to pin down because company representatives from major companies, such as Kraft, are no longer willing to state that their products are gluten free. All they will tell you is that they do not add gluten ingredients.

Misconception #3: Companies Will Always Disclose Shared Facility and Shared Equipment Information on the Label

Some companies go the extra mile and clearly state on the label if the product has been processed in a facility where products made with gluten are also processed.

Some companies will also share if the product was made on the same equipment as gluten-containing products.

These statements are voluntary.

They are not required, so if you're avoiding products that disclose that possibility and you are still eating gluten-free products that don't have the voluntary disclosure, the lack of disclosure doesn't mean the product was processed in a gluten-free safe environment.

It probably wasn't.

In fact, for some of the testing that Gluten Free Watchdog has run, with this particular misconception in mind, products with a disclosure statement on the package contained less gluten contamination than products without the disclosure!

Using the voluntary statement or lack of a voluntary statement is not a good way to judge a product's safety.

Misconception #4: If a Company Representative Tells You Their Product is Gluten Free, It's Safe for All Celiacs

Another major misconception that is rampant within the gluten-free community is that company representatives can be trusted to tell you what's going on with any specific product.

The truth is that they have been authorized to only share certain things.

As I said above, most companies will no longer tell you if the product is actually gluten free or not. This is because of the gluten-free labeling law.

Since the FDA has now defined gluten free to be up to 20 ppm of gluten, without testing, there is no way a company can know if any product is gluten free.

The best you'll be able to do by calling company representatives is to find out if the company uses a known gluten ingredient. For example, most companies will still be able to tell you if the natural flavoring in their product is gluten-based, or not.

A few won't, such as Masterpiece barbecue sauce, so you'll have to cross those brands completely off your list.

However, keep in mind that no gluten ingredients doesn't address the possibilities of gluten contamination, and gluten contamination by its very nature can often raise the gluten content of a food quite high.

Once you have a representative on the phone, be careful what you ask. Asking if a product is simply gluten free will spark the rehearsed answer. That response might be:

• We can't guarantee the product is gluten free.
• We don't add any gluten ingredients.
• We can't guarantee what our suppliers are doing.
• We purchase that ingredient, so we don't know what's in it.

You could also be told, “Yes, the product is gluten free.”

But what does it mean if a company tells you the product is gluten free?

Not much.

It simply means the product may contain up to 20 ppm of gluten. It doesn't mean that the product is safe for you to eat.

Misconception #5: You Can't React to Gluten-Free Food

This is the biggest misconception that keeps people sick.

Drop by any gluten-free forum, where people are talking about being on a gluten-free diet for a number of years but still experiencing celiac symptoms, and members will consistently tell that sick person that they are not reacting to the gluten in their diet.

They are reacting to something else.

That something else can take a wide variety of forms, but usually consists of:

• sensitivity to dairy, soy, or corn
• GMO foods are bad for compromised immune systems
• the need to eliminate FODMAPS from your diet
• fructose intolerance
• histamine intolerance
• small bowel overgrowth or Candida
• Leaky Gut issues
• Colitis and other bowel diseases

And a whole lot more. While some of these things might apply to your individual situation, you can waste a lot of time and energy chasing after additional problems that are not real.

For example, soy, corn, and other gluten-free grains are often contaminated with gluten, so when you eliminate them from your diet, you're actually lowering your gluten load.

The same goes for dairy products.

The truth is that you CAN react to gluten-free food because the gluten-free labeling law only protects the majority of the gluten-free community from permanent and on-going harm.

It does not protect everyone.

There is a large percentage of celiacs who react to a diet that consistently introduces 20 ppm of gluten on a consistent basis.

Once you accept that fact and check it out for yourself, you might be surprised to find that your gluten tolerance is much lower than you think.

Many celiacs have to limit their gluten-free diet to foods that have been certified to contain only up to 10 ppm.

A few individuals have to go even further and limit their diet to sources that are less than 5 ppm.

However, the problem is a bit more complex than just sticking to certified foods.

What is the Real Issue with Gluten-Free Products?

I'm not a purist.

While I can see how minute amounts of gluten would set off the immune system, each and every time, since antibodies are likely hanging out in the gut, I also believe the body has an excellent method for handling invaders like germs, bacteria, viruses, and even gluten.

Problems with gluten-free foods come into play when the body isn't able to deal with the invader in a timely manner, for whatever reason.

No matter what the actual limitation of the immune system is, the real issue with gluten-free products is the same as cross-contamination:

It is the total gluten load coupled with the strength of your immune system that determines what your immune system can handle, and what it cannot.

This total load is different from any symptoms you might still be experiencing.

According to the FDA's research, symptoms surface before physical damage begins. It's the body's way of talking to you and telling you that you are approaching the gluten danger line.

The amount of gluten-free products you consume on a daily basis is as important as guarding yourself from any potential gluten contamination in your environment.

Both areas of concern will add to your gluten load.

Just because a product is marked gluten free, or even certified to be gluten free, that doesn't mean you can eat all you want of it.

The more gluten-free products you eat, and the more servings of any product that you eat, the heavier your gluten load will be.

For example, where a couple of corn tortillas once a month might not cause you problems, eating four to six tortillas a week might result in a complete relapse.

It all depends on the amount of gluten you're getting from other sources.

Path of Super Sensitivity is Real

Don't let anyone tell you that super-sensitivity to gluten does not exist.

It does.

However, unraveling the mystery and hidden sources of gluten in your lifestyle, while creating a new way of living without the gluten, won't be an easy task. In my own experience, it's been quite complex.

Symptoms to gluten-free foods can take several weeks before they show up, making it difficult to pin down exactly where the reaction is coming from.

One of my own culprits was Mission Gluten-Free Flour Tortillas.

They are not certified to be gluten free, but since I can eat their corn variety, I thought their flour tortillas would be safe for me, too.

They're not.

I'm really bummed out about that because I really miss being able to have a burrito.

But in all honesty, I don't know what I'm reacting to: gluten residue or the xanthan gum. It could be either one, but not worth the effort tracking down since I can't eat them anyway.

Hubby can eat them, but his scalp usually tells me where the tiny residues of gluten hide for us, and his scalp does break out with these tortillas.