mattyfez
I take your point but we are clutching at strands of wheat here, if a pig is fed on grain, then does that mean it’s not gluten free?
That wasn’t really what I was referring to … more the use of fillers and texturisers if we are talking about pig meat.
In the wider context if following FAO-WHO rules as defined in the Codex Alimentarius (CXS 118-1979) a serrano ham should not be labelled gluten free (4.3) because it should not contain gluten anyway. They may however label it gluten free if they inject some gluten >0 and <=20mg/kg. (2.1.1)
This then gets very vague until we get to a cooked breaded ham which absolutely can be labelled gluten free as a breaded ham would by normal preparation contain gluten. (2.1.2)
This is then defined seperately under
3.1 For products referred to in 2.1.1 a) and b), the gluten content shall not exceed 20 mg/kg in the food as sold or distributed to the consumer.
3.2 For products referred to in 2.1.2 the gluten content shall not exceed 100 mg/kg in the food as sold or distributed to the consumer.
4.3 A food which, by its nature, is suitable for use as part of a gluten-free diet, shall not be designated “special dietary”, “special dietetic” or any other equivalent term.
The whole grey area starts at not being allowed to label an onion as gluten free… but then what if I add some tomatoes, herbs and garlic and call it “pasta sauce”? A producer then needs to argue that wheat flour is a “normal” thickening agent and by using an agent such as corn starch they can label the product as gluten free or suitable for special dietary needs. Or they can take the easy way and just inject a small amount of wheat gluten to make sure they comply…
Bear in mind there is no clinical evidence for the 10 or 100 mg/kg limits. It is simply determined by what is convenient to test. There was one (sponsored) paper back in I think the 80’s.. that determined “damage to the villi was no greater than” people who said they were following a gluten free diet. (which is itself meaningless as the control group were not actually tested to see how well they were following what they assumed/thought was gluten free but would be very unlikely to be)
A while ago (ok 2 decades) Asda had an exec that was coeliac and they tried to actually do this properly.. at least in a way made sense to their customers but I think they eventually gave up.