From 6/1 - 9/2, GFCO's offices will be operating Monday through Thursday and closed on Friday.
CERTIFICATION UPDATES AND REMINDERS
UPDATE: The GFCO global certification mark has completed trademark registration in the United Kingdom. Any new packaging designs for products sold in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland should display the GFCO logo with the R trademark designation, as shown below:


Please also note that any use of the GFCO mark in the UK must indicate that the mark is a certification mark – an example of one way to meet this requirement is provided in the GFCO Branding Standard. Submit all packaging, advertising and website updates to gfco.branding@gluten.org for review prior to printing or display.

Natural Flavors: Because the term 'natural flavors' can encompass ingredients like yeast extract, GFCO will be asking that our clients either provide the components of any ingredients listed as "natural flavors", or that they confirm that the natural flavor does not contain any wheat, rye or barley components, such as yeast extracts grown on barley.


INDUSTRY
NEWS
SURVEY: In April, the FDA released a guidance document entitled Evaluating the Public Health Importance of Food Allergens Other Than the Major Food Allergens Listed in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: Guidance for FDA Staff and Stakeholders. Although the document defines a Food Allergy as “An adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food”, it then goes on to state that the guidance only applies to substances that cause an IgE-mediated immune response. This caused us to wonder if food manufacturers are making this distinction when performing risk-based assessments or setting up control points in their facility.

If you work in a manufacturing plant, we would greatly appreciate your response to one quick question:


MARKETING
NEWS
GIG is your connection to the gluten-free community. Here’s 3 things to know about, with 3 ways you can get involved too: 
GFCO has officially relaunched its Instagram page and we want to highlight your brand! This is a free opportunity to promote your products to our growing audience. Simply click here to complete this form. https://gluten.org/social-media-feature/
GIG’s Generation GF program is pleased to welcome Erica Dermer of Celiac and the Beast and Jules Shepard of GF Jules as contributors to our upcoming teen event: the GF Chef Camp at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia June 30-July 1. Spread the word about this amazing event and drop us a line if you’d like to be a sponsor.
GIG Cares, in partnership with GIG, is preparing to send out 200 boxes of GFCO-certified products to families facing food insecurity in our gluten-free community. Here's what one recipient had to say: "Thank you so much!!! I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate the box or how grateful my entire family will be. This little box alleviates SO MUCH for us when it comes to the cost of gluten-free food and how it impacts our family. 💜💜"
Can you partner with GIG CARES to help those in need? Here are 2 easy ways you can help.

1) Send us full-size, shelf-stable product donations to be included

or

2) help GIG Cares serve more families by providing GIG Cares with a distributor account.

Every bit helps us serve more.
A huge shout out goes to Tribe 9 & Milton's Craft Bakers for their generous donations which will serve a meal for the entire camps, Sealth and Kanata. We are grateful for pizza night and pasta night, our gluten-free camps will eat the same meal as everyone at camp. Thank you for helping these kids feel even more special.
GFCO CONTACTS 
Paul Vachris, Program Manager, paul.vachris@gluten.org
Laura Allred, Regulatory Manager, laura.allred@gluten.org
Testing Submissions — testing@gluten.org
Logo Submissions — gfco.branding@gluten.org
Positive Results — gfco.alerts@gluten.org