§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce legislation to improve food labelling to assist sufferers of coeliac disease in identifying which processed foods are gluten free. [29921]
510W
§ Mr. RookerI have been asked to reply.
Yes. The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 will be amended on 1 July this year to require ingredients of foods identified as "starch" and "modified starch" to indicate their specific vegetable origin where they may contain gluten.
We are also promoting agreement at international level on food labelling rules which will identify gluten containing ingredients whenever they are used in processed foodstuffs.