CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Malt is a sneaky, sneaky ingredient making potentially gluten-free products a no-no and frustrating those following the diet to no end.
But what is malt? You see it pop up in many processed foods to add flavor to a product. Often times it shows up in prepackaged items such as cereals and candy but it also makes its way into malt vinegar and beer.
"Malt is usually made from barley and is not gluten free. It can be made from corn, but that is rare," according to an article published in Gluten Free Living. "Most malt comes from barley grain that has been soaked, germinated and dried. Ingredients made from malt include malt flavoring, malt syrup and malt extract, none of which are currently considered gluten-free."
Which is why consumers were alarmed in 2011 when Van's Foods released two gluten-free products containing barley malt extract. The company eventually removed the ingredient from its products, but did it need to?
In a statement released by Van's and published by glutenfreedietician.com, the company noted that although the ingredient was present, the product still met or exceeded the gluten-free standard of less than 20 parts per million.
The problem, however, lies in whether the product is labeled gluten-free. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that no gluten-containing ingredients can be present for a product to be labeled as gluten-free.
"A food labeled gluten-free cannot be intentionally made with any amount of a gluten-containing grain (wheat, rye, barley, or their crossbred hybrids like triticale) or an ingredient derived from such grain that was not processed to remove gluten," according to the FDA's website.
Gluten Free Watchdog is currently working to ensure that any product that is labeled gluten-free but contains barley malt does not stay on the shelves. There's even a citizen petition to the FDA that can be found on beyondceliac.org.
So the next time you see a product labeled as gluten-free but it has barley malt as an ingredient, beware. And if it's not labeled gluten-free but you see the ingredient present, consider treating the product as gluten-containing, especially if you're following the diet due to medical necessity.