A joint United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) committee has recommended the adoption of a gluten reference intake (RfD) of 4 milligrams (mg) for gluten and gluten-containing cereals, within a precautionary allergen risk-based labelling (PAL) framework to ensure food safety for people with coeliac disease and immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated wheat allergies.The ad hoc committee convened an expert consultation to support the deliberations of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) and the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH).
In 2008 , the Codex Alimentarius Commission established that gluten-free foods should contain gluten levels no higher than 20 mg per kilogram (kg) .
Assuming a daily intake of 500 grams (g) of food with gluten levels no greater than 20 mg/kg, this equates to an intake of no more than 10 mg of gluten per day.
FAO/WHO experts recently convened to discuss the issue of gluten-free labelling and agreed that the RfDs for gluten in the PAL framework should not be used as a basis for defining gluten-free labelling , and that establishing a reference intake (RfD) for gluten is important for the precautionary labelling of products that do not carry a gluten-free label.
Establishing RfD(s) for gluten in celiac disease requires a different basis than that used for IgE-mediated food allergies and must reflect long-term exposure risks.
Therefore, experts conducted risk assessments to evaluate an RfD for gluten based on chronic gluten exposure , rather than making decisions based on single exposures, as has been done for IgE-mediated food allergy.
The aim was to ensure that the cumulative daily intake did not exceed 10 mg of gluten, based on consideration of daily food intake from multiple individual eating occasions.
Modeling reflecting chronic or cumulative daily exposure for potential RfDs to gluten (1–10 mg gluten) was conducted , with parameters including the frequency of cross-contact , the concentration of gluten in a product when cross-contact is present , and the amounts of food consumed per day.
The modelling included products with gluten concentrations above 20 mg/kg for any consumption occasion and without risk communication regarding gluten-containing cereals.
With realistic parameters, gluten RfDs of 5–10 mg did not lead to median daily gluten exposures exceeding 10 mg.
Analyses indicate that upper limits even with acute RfDs above 5 mg of gluten could protect people with celiac disease from chronic exposures above 10 mg per day.
To avoid multiple RfDs for the same foods, experts agreed to recommend an RfD of 4 mg of gluten for risk-based decisions on the application of PAL for gluten-containing cereals.
Experts recommend that, for PAL guidance, the previously established RfD of 5 mg total protein for wheat be replaced with an RfD of 4 mg for gluten.
Experts also recommend that, when cereals containing gluten are present in the list of ingredients (e.g., barley) and the food contains cross-contacts above the RFD with other cereals containing gluten (e.g., wheat), competent authorities should consider how the specified name of the cereal and the optional term "gluten" appear in the list of ingredients, the separate declaration, and the PAL "may contain" declaration to avoid confusion among consumers. (Source: https://www.food-safety.com/ )