GFCO Proficiency Testing Program Registration

GFCO will begin accepting registrations for participation in the 2017 GFCO Proficiency Testing (PT) round on September 1st, 2017. This gluten proficiency testing program is being offered to all companies that carry a GFCO product certification, as well as to their manufacturing plants. If your company or manufacturing facility performs in-house gluten testing, participation in this program is one way to meet GFCO Standard requirement 72. If your company or facility does not do any in-house testing, but meets all of their testing requirements through the use of outside laboratories, then this requirement is not applicable and you do not need to participate in a proficiency testing program. In this case you must be prepared to provide laboratory testing results to the GFCO auditor to show that you are exempt from the proficiency testing requirement.
To register, go to www.gluten.org/proficiency-registration/ between September 1st and October 31st,  2017 and complete the registration form. A separate registration form will be required for every facility that wishes to participate. Registration for this year’s program will close on October 31st. The cost for participation is $100 per registration, to cover the costs of administering the program.

During the month of November, testing samples will be shipped to every company that has registered. Along with the samples, participants will receive testing instructions as well as information on submitting the test results and test kit data online. GFCO will not provide test kits for this program. Participants are expected to use the gluten test kits that they typically use for in-house testing.

Participants will have until December 31st to submit their test results and test kit information online. Every facility that submits data will receive a unique participant number. A final report will be sent to all participants during the month of January, 2018. In this report, all results will be identified only by participant number in order to maintain confidentiality. Participants will be able to review their results by their unique identification number, and with enough participation we will be able to break the results down by test method/test kit.

There is a chance that one or both of the proficiency testing samples may contain gluten, so participants must be prepared to handle the samples in a way that will not affect the gluten-free status of their facilities, equipment, raw materials or finished product, and also not adversely affect employee health.

Proficiency testing helps to demonstrate that the companies that make GFCO certified products are competent and qualified to assess ingredient and product gluten safety using in-house test methods. We are looking forward to a successful PT round!

PT Timeline:

• September 1st through October 31st: Register online at www.gluten.org/proficiency-registration/
  
• November 1st through November 30th: PT samples sent to all registrants
  
• December 31st: Deadline for submitting PT sample results online
  
• January 2018: Final report sent to all participants
  

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey on the use of advisory labels such as “May Contain” and “Shared Equipment” statements. This survey was intended specifically for manufacturers who operate mixed-use plants, meaning they make both gluten-containing and gluten-free products in the same facility. The questions and responses from the survey are given below:
 
1. Does your facility use allergen advisory statements for wheat on gluten-free products?
Yes – 29.4%
No – 70.6%
 
2. Which statement(s) do you use? Check all that apply or add your own.
May contain wheat – 20%
Processed in a facility that also processes wheat – 60%
Processed on shared equipment with wheat – 20%
Other - 0%
 
3. What is/are the reason(s) your facility uses them? Check all that apply or add your own.
We are required to by our legal/regulatory department – 40%
Although we can test for gluten, we cannot test to verify the absence of wheat allergens – 0%
We use wheat starch or another wheat fraction that does not contain gluten, but may contain wheat allergens - 0%
Other – 60% (examples included customer preference and a desire for transparency)
 
4. How often do you get consumer questions about allergen advisory statements on gluten-free products?
Never – 20%
Sometimes – 40%
Frequently – 40%
 
5. How do you respond to your consumer questions/inquiries? (open text response)
Responses primarily involved explanation of the plant’s internal controls and allergen program, including cleaning and cleaning validation.
 
Conclusion
Some of the plants responded that they are using the statements because their legal team requires it, but the majority indicated that they are doing it because consumers want that information. This contradicts other consumer surveys which have concluded that the majority of consumers ignore these labels(1), doubt their credibility(2), or are confused by them(3). There will obviously be wide-ranging opinions on advisory statements, but this is an important area for future research.
 
(1) Hefle, S.L., Furlong, T.J., Niemann, L. et al (2007). Consumer attitudes and risks associated with packaged foods having advisory labeling regarding the presence of peanuts. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 120 (1): 171-176.
(2) Barnett, J., Muncer, K., Leftwich, J. et al (2011). Using “may contain” labelling to inform food choice: a qualitative study of nut allergic consumers. BMC Public Health 11:734.
(3) Zurzolo, G.A., Koplin, J.J., Ponsonby, A-L. et al (2016) Consensus of stakeholders on precautionary allergen labelling: A report from the Centre for Food and Allergy Research. Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health doi:10.1111/jpc.13202.