The number of gluten-free products that have entered the market in recent years is quite large—almost mind-boggling. To some degree, this trend was fostered by FDA’s relatively new rule, Gluten-Free Labeling of Foods (August 2013), which allows manufacturers of foods inherently gluten-free to make such label claims. Thus, we now have gluten-free tomato sauce, a product that was probably always gluten-free.
The development of gluten-free tomato sauce illustrates that some gluten-free products are more easily developed than others. Within the snack food and bakery categories, fewer easy examples of gluten-free products exist. Grain sources of gluten are widely used in snack foods and baked goods, and thus pose challenges for manufacturers when developing gluten-free versions. Ingredient selection and ingredient processing on shared equipment and in shared facilities with gluten-containing products are key issues.