What is Non Gluten?
In the United States and Europe, there has been a growing popularity of “gluten-free” food items, catered to those with Celiac’s disease or a sensitivity to the gluten protein in wheat, barley, and rye. Now, you can ask what is non gluten? The “non-gluten” label identifies products with a stricter criteria of 1ppm or less of gluten content, while “gluten-free” products have a standard of only 20ppm or less.
Japanese rice flour (or rice powder) is one of the non-gluten products that undergoes the stricter gluten content inspection and is accredited through a third-party certification system. Accredited rice flour will have an official “non-gluten” label from the Japanese Rice Flour Association. The lower level of gluten content in Japanese rice flour makes it a more secure alternative for those on a gluten-free diet.
What Is FDA's Definition of Gluten-Free?
Additionally, the FDA permits producers to label a meal “gluten-free” as long as the item does not include any of the following:
- Grains that have been treated to eliminate the gluten if the product has more than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten
- Anything made using wheat, rye, barley, or their crossbreeds as an ingredient
- Component from those grains that haven’t had the gluten removed from them.
Gluten-free labels may be applied on naturally gluten-free foods such as spring water from bottled springs, fruits and vegetables, and eggs as long as any gluten that comes into contact with the product is less than 20 parts per million (ppm).
Understanding The Gluten Levels on Foods
People with celiac disease who consume more than 50 mg of gluten per day are at risk of developing villous atrophy, although those who consume less than 10 mg exhibit signs of villous atrophy. For patients with celiac disease, the 10 mg threshold for gluten ingestion is the most often utilized one based on this study.
People with celiac disease are advised to limit their gluten intake to no more than 20% of their total daily calorie intake to avoid exceeding the 10-mg threshold for gluten consumption.
Parts per million (ppm) are a concentration, not a quantity; thus, how much food is ingested is significant. To meet the 10 mg criterion, you would need to consume 17 pieces of gluten-free bread containing 20 ppm gluten. Only the tip of a pen may be used to reach a limit of thousands of ppm gluten in wheat flour.
When it comes to meals like pizza and baked goods, which people like to eat a lot, the lower the ppm number, the better. It’s unlikely that a 20-ppm concentration will have much of an effect on foods that individuals only eat in modest quantities, although some people may be more sensitive than others.
