Allergen and Gluten Information

Our products are certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) and free of many common food allergens.  All of our breaded chicken products are:

Gluten-free:   Gluten is defined as a composite of storage proteins consisting of prolamins and glutelins found in wheat (gliadin and glutenin), barley (hordein and barley glutelin), and rye (secalin and rye glutelin).  Grains such as oats, rice, and corn do not normally contain these storage proteins but may become cross-contaminated with the above grains, either in the field, in storage silos, or during processing.
Currently there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations in place for “gluten-free,” however Codex Alimentarius international guidelines have dictated that <20ppm (less than 20 parts per million) is the threshold benchmark for gluten-free products.  Some organizations, such as GFCO in the United States, have set <10ppm as the standard for companies that voluntarily seek their certification.

Wheat-free: containing no wheat.  There is no official test for the wheat allergen, specifically.  However, it has been found that products which do not contain discernable amounts of gluten (<3ppm) will contain <10ppm of wheat protein.  The presence of gluten does not necessarily imply the presence of wheat, rye, or barley in a product, but the absence of gluten is a sure indicator for the absence of those grains.

Casein-free: containing no casein, the predominant protein in milk and dairy products.  About 80% of milk proteins are in the form of casein or its derivatives.  The absence of casein in a product does not necessarily imply the absence of milk proteins.  Though testing may report negative for casein, whey proteins--which make up about 15% of the other milk proteins--can be present in moderate amounts.  At GF Gourmet Foods, we test for the presence of casein as well as beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), a major constituent of whey protein, in order to be sure there are no aberrant milk proteins in our products.
A gluten-free/casein-free diet (GF/CF) is sometimes followed by autistic children as part of a broad treatment plan.

Lactose-free: containing no lactose, the sugar in milk.  Lactose intolerance--the inability of the body to metabolize lactose--affects a large portion of the world’s population.  It is common for many with this intolerance to avoid foods that contain milk or whey (dairy products).

Peanut-free: containing no whole peanuts or fragments, peanut proteins, or derivatives.

Egg-free: containing no eggs (raw or cooked), eggs parts, or derivatives.

Routine testing for gluten and allergens at our facility is completed following recommendations from the GFCO and Bia Diagnostics and consists of the following checks:

- Ingredients are tested before final product is prepared. - Manufacturing equipment is tested for quality assurance to prevent cross-contamination. - Final product is tested in-house and sent for third party testing to ensure GFCO criteria are met (<10ppm gluten) and product is free of some food common food allergens as listed. - Final product is certified wheat-free based on results of standard gliadin testing.