Food label usage and reported difficulty with following a gluten-free diet among individuals in the USA with coeliac disease and those with noncoeliac gluten sensitivity.
BACKGROUND
Individuals with coeliac disease (CD) and those with noncoeliac gluten sensitivity (GS) have reported difficulty following a gluten-free diet (GFD); however, few studies have explored the link between the food label, gluten-free (GF) claims and the difficulty associated with following a GFD.


METHODS
The present study surveyed adults with CD (n = 1,583) and adults with GS (n = 797) about their reported difficulty following a GFD, including assessing the role of food labels and GF claims, as well as other factors known to contribute to this difficulty. A two-sample t-test and chi-squared tests for equality of means or proportions were used for the descriptive data and ordinal logistic regression (OLR) was used to model associations.


RESULTS
On average, individuals with GS reported slightly more difficulty following the GFD than did participants with CD. According to the OLR results, reading the food label often was significantly associated with less reported difficulty following a GFD, whereas consuming packaged processed foods and looking for GF claims more often were significantly associated with more reported difficulty for both respondent groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals with GS may rely more heavily on the GF claim for information about a product's gluten content. Individuals with CD, on the other hand, may be more experienced food label readers and may rely more on the ingredient list for finding GF foods. More studies are needed aiming to understand the role of the food label in facilitating consumers' ability to follow a GFD.
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA.
L
L
Verrill
Y
Y
Zhang
R
R
Kane
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000178:diet therapy*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D055050:Diet, Gluten-Free; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000178:diet therapy*; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D005983:Glutens / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
D005983:Glutens
coeliac disease; food allergy; food labelling; intolerance