June 20, 2024
We have recently been made aware of concerns raised by Moms Across America (MAA) regarding the gluten content in several products certified gluten-free by our organization. Specifically, their report mentioned that three products contained gluten levels above the FDA allowable limit of 20 parts per million (ppm) and three additional products had levels above our stricter limit of 10 ppm.
Upon seeing this report, we promptly conducted a thorough investigation in partnership with the GFCO manufactures who were named by Moms Across America, including a thorough evaluation of each clients’ compliance records as well as retesting the specific lots mentioned in the Moms Across America report. We asked the manufacturers to run multiple tests on their retained samples from the lots named in the MAA report, in order to help rule out the possibility of hot spots. All testing was performed at ISO 17025 accredited laboratories that have GFCO-approved test methods on their scope of accreditation.
So far, our testing has confirmed that four of the products, from the same lots, are indeed gluten-free and meet our certification standards.
Here are the results of our tests:
-Made Good Soft Baked Double Chocolate Cookies Lot 1023 (erroneously labeled as “vanilla” in the MAA report): Six separate results of Less than 5 ppm of gluten
-Jovial Spaghetti Lot 3291: Six separate results of Less than 5 ppm of gluten
-Simple Mills Brownie Mix – Six separate results of Less than 5 ppm of gluten
-Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers – Six separate results of Less than 5 ppm of gluten
Reporting on one additional product is still pending.
We take these findings seriously and want to assure our consumers that we adhere to management system controls to reduce possible risks, as well as stringent testing protocols to verify the gluten-free status of certified products. Our testing requirements are robust and designed to ensure that all products meet our high standards for gluten-free certification.
We understand the concerns this report may have caused and appreciate your trust in our certification.
We will update the community when the remaining results are available.
Update as of June 24, 2024: All results are in and we can confirm that all products are gluten-free and meet our GFCO standard of 10ppm or less.