While most major grocery stores now offer dedicated sections for wheat-free and gluten-free foods, many people may be wondering how to tell if what is being promoted as wheat- and gluten-free really is what it claims to be.

Less than five years ago, wheat-free and gluten-free foods were rare and difficult to find. Unfortunately, as demand has grown, so has the controversy surrounding what should be considered wheat- and/or gluten-free.

For many, the problem lies in the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet determined how many parts per million (ppm) are permissible for a food product to be labeled “Wheat-Free” and/or “Gluten-Free.” Current research suggests that for people with celiac disease, the maximum safe level of gluten in a finished product is probably less than 0.02% (200 parts per million) and possibly as little as 0.002% (20 parts per million).

For the most part though, the three major U.S.-based celiac support organizations — the Celiac Sprue Association, Celiac Disease Foundation, and the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America — agree on what the standard should be: Less than 10 ppm. Without getting too technical, that simply means less than 10 parts per million, or an almost untraceable amount of either wheat or gluten.

While the organizations mentioned above advocate for an FDA Ruling insuring food manufacturers making the wheat-free and gluten-free claim are indeed testing at less than 10 ppm, I want you — our customers — to know that PureFit Nutrition Bars are tested for wheat and gluten on an annual basis. Without fail, our test results always come back from a lab used by the Celiac Sprue Association as “BLQ” (Below the Limit of Quantitation), with less than 5 ppm for both wheat and gluten.

Clearly, just in case you were wondering, PureFit Nutrition Bars are worthy of the wheat-free and gluten-free designation, and as long as I am running the company, that will never change. In the meantime, I will continue sending batches of our bars out for testing. Even though I know they will show “less than 5 ppm,” I will still post the test results and hope you are snacking on one of our bars when you read them.