In this week's edition of "wait, seriously, that was a thing?" the FDA has now ruled that products that claim to be "gluten-free" actually have to contain a distinct absence of gluten. Apparently, prior to this ruling, we were all living in a gluten-free-for-all.
But those dark days are over. Now, in order to claim to be "gluten-free," a product will have to meet the official definition: less than 20 parts per million of gluten. It's unsurprising that this is generally what other countries/international agencies already require considering that most of those countries at least occasionally prioritize their citizens not dying over a corporation's right to profit at all costs, but hey, whayugunnado?
We can make fun of the Gluten Free For No Goddamn Reason people all day long (ohhhhh, please let's), but this is actually really good news for sufferers of Celiac Disease. I feel for them in general considering their legitimate medical need has been co-opted by hipster fuckbuckets and other assorted morons (to the point where some equally-big assholes insist that Celiac isn't a thing or automatically assume people are lying when they claim to have it), but it's pretty appalling that prior to this ruling, they could've suffered serious health issues thanks to some shitty company falsely claiming their product is "gluten-free" just to move a few more units.
While the new rules don't technically apply to restaurants, I'd be surprised if they didn't comply with this/weren't already complying. It's not exactly great for business when customers have to be rushed to the hospital because of a falsely-labeled menu item. That'd be a pretty justifiable negative Yelp review.
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