As of July 20, 2016, gluten-free foods-hitherto classified as dietetic foods-merge into the category of common foods, as stipulated in EU Regulation 609/2013, which repealed Directive 2009/39/EC on ADAPs (Dietary foods and foods for particular nutritional uses).
Registration lapsed
As a result of the new legislation, the requirement to register and notify the Ministry of Health for foods labeled as “gluten-free,” that is, with a maximum gluten residue of less than 20 mg/kg, made from naturally gluten-free raw materials or subjected to a deglutinization process, is no longer required.
The new label claims
The new terms allowed to qualify gluten-free or gluten-reduced foods are already usable, as clarified by the note issued on July 7, 2015, by the Ministry of Health.
And they are:
1 – “gluten-free”. This indication may be followed by the words
- “suitable for people intolerant to gluten” or
- “suitable for celiacs,” if the food is naturally gluten-free (thus not specifically formulated for celiacs).
2 – “with very low gluten content.” This claim can be used only for foods containing deglutinized ingredients in the composition.
Foods specially formulated for people with celiac disease
However, a further differentiation is provided in Article 3 of Regulation 828/2014, which allows for two additional wordings:
1 – “specifically formulated for people intolerant to gluten”
2 – “specifically formulated for celiac disease.”
Such mentions are allowed if the food is produced, prepared and/or processed for the purpose of:
(a) reduce the gluten content of one or more gluten-containing ingredients; or
(b) Replace gluten-containing ingredients with other ingredients that are naturally gluten-free.
The two statements follow either “gluten-free” or “very low gluten content.”
