The Food Allergen and Labeling Law of 2004 says that food labels must contain simple or common names for ingredients. In 2014, the FDA went further and set the standard for a gluten free food.

For a food to be labeled gluten free it must pass three criteria.

• Food can’t contain wheat, rye, barley or crossbreeds of these grains.
• Food can not contain an ingredient from these grains that has not been processed to remove gluten.
• Food can contain no more than 20ppm of gluten in the food product.

I have always believed that major food manufacturers that label their foods gluten free understand these rules. They have teams of attorneys and food scientists to keep them aligned with the regulations.

Gluten Free Watchdog recently published an article. It is about Progresso’s Manhattan Clam Chowder Gluten Free soup potentially containing an ingredient derived from barley.

Barley is not considered one of the top 8 major allergens. It is not necessary to be listed in an allergen statement. Hydrolyzed ingredients are difficult to accurately detect gluten in final food products.

For me, this is worrisome. Not only because of the potential gluten contamination, but because Progresso missed this. I have always been fairly confident in large companies accurately labeling their foods. But this one is disconcerting.

I have never been a big fan of companies jumping on the gluten free bandwagon to make a buck. But the gluten free food marketplace is worth $6.23b and expected to grow by 10% by 2030. It is big business.

This soup solves a problem for many gluten free people. Getting a quick, easy, inexpensive gluten free meal on the table is a constant battle.

But this soup potentially having a problem, sets us back. This feels like a betrayal. It feels like all of the gluten free progress has been drained away. It feels like turning a profit at any cost is what is driving this misstep.

I have been trying to be eloquent, but I can not find another way to say it. This sucks.