Top three benefits of implementing BRCGS Gluten-Free Certification in your food business
The demand for gluten-free products remains strong in both the foodservice and retail sectors. Over 100 million North Americans are currently buying gluten-free products and the global gluten-free food market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% from 2022 to 2030.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought general rising health and wellness-related concerns into focus. Consumption of healthy food products to prevent health disorders, such as heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, chronic pulmonary disease, and metabolic syndrome are driving the growth of this market.
The global prevalence of celiac disease is approximately 1% and rising. There is currently no cure for celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, nor is there any on the horizon. More recent science indicates that mere avoidance of gluten for sufferers is not enough, therefore the only mitigation or treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. Foods produced at sites certified to BRCGS’ Global Standard Gluten-Free will satisfy that essential need.
By being certificated to the Global Standard Gluten-Free, sites can communicate their commitment to producing safe, reliable and trusted gluten-free products for consumers across the globe through the use of a range of six dedicated trademarks.
- AOECS Crossed-Grain trademark
- Celiac Canada trademark
- Beyond Celiac (USA) trademark
- Acelmex (Mexico) trademark
- Acelmex Latin America trademark
- BRCGS’ Informed Gluten-Free trademark
Here are the top three benefits of implementing the Global Standard Gluten-Free in your facility.
1. SAFE - The Standard is recognised by the Celiac community as being a trustworthy, reliable source of foods which are safe to eat
The long-term outcome of the Standard is to promote a management system approach to prevent failures that could harm the public. Correctly applied, a site’s gluten-free management system will provide a very strong level of protection from failure, and if failure does occur, it will enable the rapid identification and management of risks and deviations. The Standard has been set up to ensure that both dedicated and non-dedicated gluten-free sites are equally capable of meeting the requirements of the Standard, without compromising the safety of products. The gluten controls required in the Standard can easily be woven into the existing Food Safety Management System in place at the site.
Increasing the availability of gluten-free products that conform to regulatory requirements will enable market expansion and should, at the same time, reduce the burden of government enforcement. Consumers will benefit by having increased confidence in their purchases, wider availability, and variety of choice. Using our trusted, on-pack trademarks will demonstrate to the consumer that your product has been produced in a facility which has undergone rigorous checks to ensure that it is safe for Celiac consumers.
2. RELIABLE - The Global Standard Gluten-Free is the only Programme which is endorsed by the two leading Celiac Associations in North America, and has dedicated trademarks for use in the UK and Europe.
Beyond Celiac in the United States and Celiac Canada both endorse the Standard and lend their trademarks to the programme. The Global Standard Gluten-Free is the only programme which is endorsed by either of these two very influential Celiac groups. We also have exclusive rights for the use of Acelmex’s two trademarks aimed at the Mexican and Latin American markets.
In 2021, the Association of European Coeliac Societies (AOECS) and BRCGS put in place a combined Gluten-Free certification programme under the widely recognised Crossed Grain trademark, licensed by AOECS. This gives any suitably certificated site permission to use the AOECS Crossed Grain trademark in all 37 European territories covered by the AOECS.
BRCGS’ Informed Gluten-Free trademark is also available to be used for products sold outside of North America.
3. GLUTEN-FREE - Independent third-party audits
BRCGS’ has around 250 approved, independent, third-party certification bodies who are able to conduct audits across the globe. Audits against the Standard’s requirements may be performed as a 1.5 to 2-day standalone audit or combined with your BRCGS Food Safety or START! audit. Combining your audits is the most efficient way to gain certification, as the gluten-free portion of the audit will add 0.5 days to your BRCGS Food Safety or START! audit duration. Combining your audits also reduces costs associated with auditor travel time and certification body expenses, while reducing audit fatigue within your staff.
The certification process for the Global Standard Gluten-Free is identical to the BRCGS Food Safety process. Sites will have 28 days to close any non-conformances, before certification is granted a maximum of 14 days later. If your Global Standard Gluten-Free audit is combined with your Food Safety audit, the GFCP re-audit due date and expiry date will continue to match that of the Food Safety certification.
Find out more about Gluten-Free Certification
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