Burt’s Chips Guinness Flavour | Labelled Gluten Free | Contains Barley Malt
BE ADVISED: Victoria, BC. April 3, 2016 “My husband bought these last night. My kids (both Celiacs) ate two chips before I noticed that despite the Gluten Free claim as there is barley malt extract in the ingredients. I thought this was not allowed. Am I wrong??”
The Celiac Scene checked www.burtschips.com/guinness: “Ingredients Potatoes, sunflower oil, yeast extract powder, buttermilk powder (MILK), sugar, flavouring, fat-reduced cocoa powder, rice flour, salt, BARLEY malt extract powder, cream powder (MILK).” This would appear to be a contravention of Health Canada’s Position on Gluten-Free Claims* if not a food safety issue.
Please inform your local retailer
The concerned mother above has already contacted Canadian Food Inspection Agency about this matter. Please make informed choices about the food you or your family choose to consume.
The Celiac Scene would like to commend Country Grocer on Vancouver Island for removing Guinness Flavored Burt’s Chips from all 7 of their locations upon notification. Please consider informing your local retailer about this concern.
Gluten-Free Foods Still Contain Barley Malt by Tricia Thompson, Gluten-Free Watchdog, February 2, 2016 (USA)
“Manufacturers are missing two major facts:
First, there is more than one criterion for labeling a food gluten-free. A gluten-free food may NOT contain ingredients that have NOT been processed to remove gluten. It doesn’t matter how much gluten the final food product contains, even if it is less than 20 parts per million. A manufacturer cannot include a little bit of wheat flour or a little bit of barley malt and label a food gluten-free, regardless of test results.
Second, the sandwich R5 ELISA is not able to accurately detect gluten peptide fragments. Gluten peptide fragments result when gluten protein is hydrolyzed (in other words broken apart). A competitive R5 ELISA should be used to detect gluten protein fragments.”
Also by Gluten-Free Watchdog:
- Product Labeled Gluten-Free Contains Barley Malt Extract
- Use of barley malt extract in labeled gluten-free food
- Difficulty in testing barley malt for gluten
Click to learn more about Gluten-Free Watchdog
If you or a loved one must eat gluten free, it is vitally important to know what foods are safe. Gluten contamination can occur in many places: in the fields where food is grown, in trucks and railcars where food is transported, and in the processing and manufacturing plants where food is made ready for the consumer. It is our hope that independently testing labeled gluten-free products and making results publicly available will allow you to feel more confident in the products you buy. Subscribe to state-of-the-art gluten-free food testing data
*Health Canada’s Position on Gluten-Free Claims
“It is prohibited to label, package, sell or advertise a food in a manner likely to create an impression that it is a gluten-free food if the food contains any gluten protein or modified gluten protein, including any gluten protein fraction, referred to in the definition “gluten” in subsection B.01.010.1(1).
- any gluten protein from the grain of any of the following cereals or the grain of a hybridized strain created from at least one of the following cereals:
- (i) barley,
- (ii) oats,
- (iii) rye,
- (iv) triticale, or
- (v) wheat, kamut or spelt; or
- any modified gluten protein, including any gluten protein fraction, that is derived from the grain of any of the cereals referred to in subparagraphs (a)(i) to (v) or the grain of a hybridized strain referred to in paragraph (a). (gluten) “
- call toll free at 1.800.442.2342 and you will be directed to the appropriate department.
- online: https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/report-a-concern/contact-us/eng/1390269985112/1390346078752
Vancouver Island Office, Canadian Food Inspection Agency Reception Desk: 250-363-3455
Would you like to be notified of food recalls and allergy alerts by email?
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) offers an automatic notification service for food recalls and allergy alerts. To sign up, go to www.inspection.gc.ca, click on English then click on E-mail Notification Services in the Quick Link list on the right side of the window. You can choose to be notified about a Specific Allergy or choose All Allergies.
www.inspection.gc.ca/english/util/listserv/listsube.shtml
In Canada a gluten-free claim means the product is categorized as a food for special dietary use ie. made specifically for people with celiac disease. See www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/cel-coe/gluten-position-eng.php
Products must meet the regulations (no gluten-containing ingredients, gluten levels less than 20 ppm) AND the product must be a “food for special dietary use.” Only a few types of food meet Health Canada’s special dietary use criteria:
- a formulated liquid diet that meets the requirements contained in sections B.24.101 and B.24.102;
- a meal replacement for special dietary use that meets the requirements contained in section B.24.200;
- a nutritional supplement that meets the requirements contained in section B.24.201;
- a gluten-free food that meets the requirements contained in section B.24.018;
- represented for protein-restricted diets;
- represented for low (naming the amino acid) diets; or
- a food represented for use in a very low energy diet, where the food meets the requirements contained in section B.24.303.
