Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) food safety authorities covering the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia along with Yemen recently notified the WTO of new technical regulations for food manufacturers to make gluten-free claims, covering strict requirements for production process, content and labelling of related foods.
“To begin with, all products labelled as ‘gluten-free’ must contain no more than 20mg/kg of gluten when it reaches the consumer, and must not contain in their ingredients any form of wheat (all species of Triticum, such as durum wheat, spelt and Khorasan wheat / Kamut), rye, barley and oats, or their crossbred varieties,” the Qatar General Organization for Standardization said via official documentation.
“The same limit of no more than 20mg/kg of gluten applies for all products that do contain [these ingredients] but have been specially processed to remove the gluten.”
A specific category of ‘reduced-gluten’ or ‘very low gluten’ has also been specified for products containing more than 20 mg/kg but not more than 100 mg/kg of gluten.
“Products in this category generally contain one or more gluten-containing ingredients, but have been specially processed to reduce this gluten content. [If these contain less than] 100 mg/kg of gluten but do not meet the limits needed to be ‘gluten-free’, the products can be classified as ‘reduced-gluten’ or ‘very low gluten’,” the agency said.
It has also been specified that to use the make a claim using the term ‘gluten-free’ on the product label, product must strictly satisfy the gluten limit of not more than 20mg/kg. Anything beyond this will fall into the ‘reduced-gluten’ category, and anything above 100mg/kg will not be able to make either claim.
“The term ‘gluten-free’ on labels should also be accompanied by matching Arabic text near the product’s own label,” the documents stated.
The enhanced standards have also specified that food firms will need to ensure that gluten-free foods need to be nutritionally equivalent to the conventional foods they are replacing in the name of public health, especially for staple items such as bread.
“Gluten-free foods that serve as important substitutes for conventional foods shall provide approximately the same amount of vitamins and minerals as the original foods they replace,” said the agency.
“These also need to be prepared with special care under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to prevent contamination with gluten.”
This WTO notification is open to public comment until October 17 2026. Any comments can be submitted via email here.
Allergen fears
Gluten is not the only allergen that has received special attention in the Middle East as of late — also in August this year, the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) published an English version of regulations governing the declaration of food allergens on prepackaged food labels.
The original Arabic version of these regulations were published in April last year, and specified requirements such as the explicit labelling of food allergens on products and the mandatory declaration of these allergens in both Arabic and English.
One other important addition was elaboration on the specific role of e-commerce stores and delivery platforms in displaying allergen information visibly on-screen, to ensure consumers see this before completing their purchases.
Both the new English translation and the stricter gluten-free standards indicate that the GCC is seriously cracking down on firms attempting to use language or ignorance as an excuse for flouting regulations.
All food businesses dealing with products whether gluten, nuts, eggs or others therefore need to take a closer look at the market’s new standards, thresholds and compliance requirements to ensure that product recipes and labels are up to date.
