FDA Releases Final Rule Defining “Gluten-Free” Labeling

(August 15, 2013)  On August 5, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its final rule defining “gluten-free” for voluntary labeling programs. While many manufacturers already comply with the new standards, they will have until August 5, 2014 to bring package labels into full compliance. The final rule appears to be unchanged from a proposed rule defining “gluten-free” originally released in 2007 and re-opened for comment in August 2011. For more information on the specifics of what constitutes “gluten-free” please see the FDA Q & A link and the FDA final rule itself