food lists suppliers finding hidden gluten food labelling overseas visitors

Gluten Free Food Lists

There are 3 lists :

One list contains only products manufactured in Australia and labelled as gluten free. This is probably the only list you can reasonably rely upon as products are tested to contain no detectable levels of gluten.

Another list has been compiled from numerous "gluten free" lists provided by various manufacturers. That is, the manufacturers claim the products have only gluten free ingredients.

The third list is of imported products which either have non-gluten containing ingredients or are designated gluten free by their country of origin.

Any items on these lists which are proven not to be gluten free and are removed from the manufacturers' lists, will not be removed from these lists, but will be coloured red.

The lists have a version number and date at the top of each page.

The product lists have been provided by manufacturers and have colour coding which is explained on the linked pages. Please read the notes at the top of each page carefully.

Where to get your GF Goodies

This page contains a list of cake shops, bakers, butchers, and other assorted retail and wholesale outlets where GF goodies are available.

Hidden Gluten

Some tips for tracking down hidden gluten in your diet.

Overseas Visitors

A few tips here for overseas visitors on where to find GF food.

Food Labelling

In Australia, current standards on food labelling are that for a product to be labelled 'gluten free' it must contain 'no detectable gluten' which means that it must be less then 0.003% (30 ppm). If a food is labelled as 'low gluten' it must contain less than 0.02% (200 ppm).

The current International Codex Alimentarious Standard for gluten free products is the same as Australia's 'low gluten' standard.

Australia & New Zealand Food Authority are currently updating their standards for food labelling. (At last!)

When the new labelling takes effect, EVERY ingredient which is known to cause a reaction in sensitive people must be declared on the label, with the exception of beer and spirits. This means that for things like starches, thickeners, maltodextrins etc. the labelling has to declare the source for those ingredients. e.g. labelling for maltodextrin will have to declare from which starch it was derived.

This also holds for processing aids and compound products (eg. the toffee bits in the ice cream.)

Input into the new Standards was provided by The Australian Coeliac Society.

Pharmaceuticals still only have to conform to the International Codex Alimentarious Standard of less tham 0.02% ( low gluten by OUR food standards) to be labelled as 'gluten free'.

You can have a look at the Food Standards Code draft document here.