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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city
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Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 230/2/12

18 February 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 89/2009

European Union (EU)* : Foodstuffs Suitable for People Intolerant to Gluten

The European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a Regulation specifying the composition of foodstuffs for people intolerant to gluten and the respective labelling requirements. Details are set out in the Commission Regulation (EC) 41/2009 (the Regulation), which can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:016:0003:0005:EN:PDF

DETAILS

  1. Gluten present in grains (such as wheat, rye and barley) can cause adverse health effects to persons intolerant to gluten and therefore should be avoided by them. In this regard, the Regulation specifies that foodstuffs for people intolerant to gluten shall not contain a level of gluten exceeding 100 mg/kg. The labelling, advertising and presentation of these products can bear the term "very low gluten". If the gluten content does not exceed 20 mg/kg, the products may bear the term "gluten-free".

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5556.

Yours faithfully,




(Miss Peggy LEUNG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.



Note ：

  • (1) While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.
  • (2) The biweekly newsletter "Business Alert - EU" of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council provides up-to-date information on the latest developments in EU trade policy and trade regulations. The newsletter is available for free e-subscription and can be accessed through
    http://www.tdctrade.com/alert/eualert.htm.