No doubt, like us, you’ll be asked this question on a regular basis, and with anything to do with allergens, it can feel a little scary when you or your team to need to advise your customers. So, we thought we’d try to help you better understand some of the questions around gluten.
Chocolate in its simple form does not have gluten added to it, but many inclusions which are added can include any number of allergens, which in turn means the chocolate now contains gluten, dairy, etc. At Choc Affair we don’t work with inclusions, rather we flavour our chocolate with natural flavours which don’t specifically contain gluten.
Anyone suffering from an allergy to gluten or who are coeliac should be aware that whilst there may not be a specific allergen ingredient listed within the chocolate, there is the risk of unintentional cross-contact with allergens in the manufacturing or preparation process – when something is unintentionally transferred from one object to another.
At Choc Affair, we are often asked the question that whilst we don’t list gluten or wheat in our ingredients list, we do state may also contain nuts and oats and what this actually means to an allergy sufferer. So here goes, whilst we explain it for you Coeliac UK explains it better than we can, you can read it here:
Gluten free; Only foods that contain 20 parts per million (ppm) or less can be labelled as ‘gluten free’. This may apply to specialist gluten free products like breads, flours and crackers, including foods that contain gluten free wheat starch, as well as processed foods which are made from naturally gluten free ingredients like soups, ready meals and snacks. The ‘gluten free’ label may also be used for uncontaminated oat products. Research shows that this tiny amount of gluten is not toxic to people with coeliac disease and they can eat unlimited amounts of products with gluten at a level of 20 ppm or less.
Legally, Oats are classified as one of the 14 major allergens and because we produce a arrange of oat m!lk chocolate bars, we need to have oats as one of our allergens on our packaging, (even though they are sourced as gluten free oats). Our suppliers of flavourings and our chocolate producers as well as ourselves, do not claim to be allergen-free sites, so we must consider the possibility of cross-contamination however slight the risk, to ensure we are keeping you our customer as safe as we can, by making you aware of any potential risks.
Hopefully this helps, and it gives your consumers the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision – please do get in touch with us if you have any questions, we’re here to help!