Food Quality Magazine
ISSUE 02 | AUTUMN 2014
“Gluten-Free“ Labelling Reviewed
Cesare Varallo, foodlawlatest.com
During the last year we registered
great movement around gluten-free
products, not only because of the
increasing market share, but also on
the regulatory side.
In EU, in the context of the revision of the legislation on foodstuffs
intended for particular nutritional
uses Regulation (EU) n. 609/2013
of the European Parliament and of
the Council repealed the pre-existing
Regulation1 and the new rules, recently adopted2, will enter into force
on 20th July 2016.
It was considered appropriate to ensure that, in accordance with the
requirements of the upcoming general rules about food labeling3 - who
has expressly provided for the adoption of specific standards for the
„Gluten-free“ category - the information provided about the absence
of gluten or its presence to a limited
extent in foods continue to be based
on relevant scientific information
and are not misleading or confusing
for the consumers.
It is also relevant to stress that the
adoption of a Regulation (and not
28
a simple Directive) should be guarantee of uniform conditions of application in all the 28 Member States
of the Unions. The new conditions
provided reflect significantly what
was already provided in Regulation
(EC) n. 41/2009.
The main rules, contained in Annex I,
shall provide that, where consumers
are informed about the absence of
gluten or about its presence to a
limited extent in foods by adding
text, the information is provided
exclusively by the terms and conditions that follow:
• GLUTEN-FREE: The statement ‘gluten-free’ may only be made where
t