For seven years, the Food and Drug Administration has been trying to answer this question: What does it mean to be “gluten-free”? That is roughly the time it took to build a tunnel beneath the English Channel to connect Britain and France.
In the meantime, foodmakers have been deciding for themselves whether they can jump into a lucrative new niche and market their products as free from gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. As a result, some products labeled gluten-free contain no gluten, others might have a trace and still more could contain a sizable amount.
That murkiness is creating a real problem for an increasing number of Americans whose health depends on avoiding even tiny amounts of gluten, which is commonly found in bread, pasta and other staples and even in some unexpected products, such as soy sauce and blue cheese.
Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder in which gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, afflicts about 3 million people in the United States. Exposure to gluten can trigger problems ranging from gastrointestinal distress and infertility to an increased risk of certain cancers.
