Recently I sent an email to Amy's Kitchen about their gluten free products. On the back of the products labeled gluten free there is a statement that states,"This item is manufactured in a facility that also manufactures wheat." Below is a response to my email.
Hello Caroline,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write. Amy¹s Kitchen is a family-run business, and it¹s important for us to hear from our consumers.
Way before gluten free became a household name our owners championed this line of products to serve gluten intolerant consumers like you who need good tasting and nutritious GF meals. Some of these GF intolerant consumers happened to be among their own family and friends. Whilst our GF product offerings and demand have grown, we have always done everything possible to assure our gluten free products are just that, free of gluten. In addition to testing all high risk ingredients used in our gluten free meals upon receipt, we also test all finished goods for the presence of gluten. Amy’s follows Good Manufacturing Practices, which include a wide range of activities and cross checks completed, for all of our meals to ensure that there is never an instance of cross contamination.
You do bring up an interesting point about our label statement that these GF products are “manufactured in a facility that processes foods containing wheat.” Although it may sound contradictory to our GF claims, years back we decided to add this statement after talking with some of our most sensitive GF consumers. These consumers told us that they would prefer to know this via a label statement, so that they could personally decide for themselves whether they could safely consume our products given their high sensitivity. Although we do make our GF pizzas, wraps, and cookies in a gluten free only processing room we wouldn’t feel comfortable removing this statement given our consumers feedback, despite our confidence in the gluten free nature of our products.
Gluten Cross Contamination Concerns
Amy's Kitchen produces more than fifty gluten-free products. We realize that many people who consume these products have Celiac Sprue and cannot safely consume gluten. We understand the severity of this disease and do not take lightly our responsibility to produce foods that are safe for our consumers. Amy's gluten-free products do not contain any wheat, rye, barley or oats.
We assure this gluten-free standard by internal or independent testing of every product and by manufacturing processes that ensure absence of cross contamination. Amy's staff includes a number of professionals having expertise in food allergens and their testing.
We take extraordinary measures to ensure our gluten-free products are indeed gluten-free. A wide range of activities and cross-checks are completed to ensure that cross-contamination and/or inadvertent use of the wrong ingredient does not occur in our facilities. Examples
include:
1. Analysis for gluten in our in-house allergen lab; each manufacturing run of a Gluten- Free product is tested to ensure it complies with the Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) definition of Gluten-Free (<20 ppm). We use the best available technology in our allergen testing laboratory. FALCPA does not require that gluten-free products be manufactured in a facility that does not also process gluten products.
2. In–house screening of potentially problematic ingredients to assure suppliers are properly handling and processing ingredients used in our gluten free finished products.
3. Spot screening of ingredients and finished products at University of Nebraska (FARRP - Food Allergy Research and Resource Program) to confirm there are no unlabeled allergens (utilize tests for gluten, soy, milk, certain tree nuts, etc.).
4. Manufacturing is scheduled so that there are never two items (with differing formulations) manufactured on the same line in one shift. All changeovers involving an allergen in the product run first which does occur in the following product requires a full clean up. Additionally, all equipment is inspected prior to use. This assures there is no allergenic material left on the equipment which may contaminate the next batch.
5. Separate item numbers for all ingredients; these are checked by two individuals on receipt of the ingredient and three people on use of the ingredient to confirm the correct item is used.
6. Use of colored tags, papers and containers in production as an addition visual check to ensure intermediate components are not interchanged.
7. Designated areas for soy flour and nonfat dry milk use to control airborne allergens.
8. Bar code readers at packaging lines to ensure correct package is used with each product.
In response to requests from consumers, we decided to add the following statement to our packages several years ago: Individuals with Food Allergies: This product is manufactured in a facility that processes foods containing wheat, milk, soy, tree nuts and seeds. Amy's Kitchen does not use any peanuts, fish, shellfish or eggs.
We believed that customers have the right to know this information, but we make the statement still knowing that the products we label as gluten-free are indeed gluten-free. This statement does not in any way relieve us of our responsibility to ensure the product is gluten-free.
Best regards,
Carol
Senior Consumer Relations
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Amy’s Kitchen
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