I was munching on a bag of chips. Ingredients : Potato , safflower oil , salt.
In big bold lettering on the front of the package : Gluten free
Of course it's gluten free. it doesn't contain any wheat or other grains that contain glutenin.
They might as well put things like "Does not contain elephants" or "Comes without steering wheel"
what's next ?
A bag of salad that says "Vegan friendly" ?
A bag of rice that says "No cows inside" ?
post your marketing bullshittery gripes below. i'm curious to see what other bullshittery is out there.
No it absolutely isn't bullshittery. I suffer from Coeliac disease, it isn't a gluten alergy, it is an autoimune condition. Exposure to gluten causes a T-Cell immune reaction which strips the vilii off the internal surface of the gut (causing so called smooth gut'), drastically reducing its surface area and so, ability to absorb nutrients. It can manifest in a number of confusing ways, often delaying diagnosis. If it goes undiagnosed for many decades, it leads to increased risk of small bowel T-Cell Lymphoma. After a bad gluten hit, it can take several months for the gut to fully heal which can be detected
in by blood tests over that time.
Anyone who says that gluten free labelling is bullshittery should be made undergo the tests for Coeliac, which include several rather unpleasant endoscopies and small bowel biopsies, both to confirm the diagnosis and to ensure that the gluten free diet is working effectively. I have mixed feelings about people who diagnose themselves from
womens [EDIT: lifestyle] magazines
(sorry, I can't immediately think of a gender neutral term for such publications). I'm sure some of these people must have some form of gluten intolerance or alergy, but if they believe they are, then they should have it medically confirmed (to avoid potentially life threatening problems later) and be forced to follow a
strict absolute gluten free diet, rather than a faddy one. At the same time, such interest has
vastly improved the variety of gluten free food compared to what there was 20odd years ago when I was finally diagnosed. Back then, the only way to establish gluten free status was to look individual products up on a register, such as the Coeliac UK book (and as Zero999 says, the app too now).
Ingredients marking is still a nightmare but much improved, as is stability. As Pringles were mentioned above - once upon a time they used to be gluten free...
then they weren't. No warning on the packaging, they just changed the ingredients one day. The same with many other manufacturers' products - you have to check each time. A hint, if you want decent English Mustard, buy the Colemans powdered in the tin - if you buy the glass jar you will find they have mixed it with glutenous shit! Porridge oats are ok for most (not all) Coeliacs, but did you know that a small proportion of wheat tends to seed among the crop too? You need the gluten free one.
Then you come to the unmarked products or the "May contain" / "Produced in a factory that also manufactures..." These are the ones where they just don't care, have ordinary wheat flour dust floating in the air, or run various products through their machines without cleaning them fully first (that one is a nightmare for people with potentially fatal nut, egg, etc. allergies too). The whole thing is a nightmare (particularly for the recently diagnosed) where actually having products specified as gluten free helps immensly.
So Mr free_electron, please excuse me if I tell you to take your "absurd marketing bullshittery" and stick it where the sun don't shine. You know not of what you speak.