US FDA/CFSAN - Manufacturing Gluten-Free Foods
August 19, 2005
Miss Roben's Continued
- Provide extensive assistance via phone & internet:
- Constantly redirect & re-network consumers to more appropriate resources (medical, dieticians, national/local support groups, etc)
- Distribute other manufacturer's contact information
- Extensive baking assistance even if using competitor's products
- Belong to over 30 different Celiac & associated email newsgroups
- Based on this experience it appears that consumers:
- Rely heavily on labels for processed foods
- Seek out GF on label
- Devote multiple extra hours both to label reading & follow up calls to manufacturers
- Typically have poor knowledge of manufacturing process & terms
- Often inadvertently purchase unsafe products (esp. Spelt)*
- Require assistance in calculating nutritional facts that are not clearly marked per serving analysis
