In Australia, oats cannot legally be labelled “gluten free” under FSANZ food labelling laws even when they are pure, uncontaminated and tested to be free from wheat, rye and barley.
If you travel overseas you will see ‘gluten free oats’ labelled all around the world, this provides a lot of confusion to customers in Australia.
The reason is that the authorities led by Coeliac Australia are choosing to not allow oats to be labelled gluten free. Although pure, uncontaminated oats don't naturally contain the same gluten proteins found in wheat, rye and barley, up to 10% may react to the protein avenin contained in oats.
According to Coeliac Australia, pure oats are safely tolerated by the vast majority of people with coeliac disease, 90% and they are now recommending oats to coeliacs to support other medical conditions.
Because there is currently no simple way to predict who will react, people with coeliac disease are advised to speak with their medical team before introducing oats and may need to complete an oat challenge to assess their individual tolerance.
At GF Oats Australia, we originally imported oats from a family of Coeliacs in the US that started the project showing the world that oats grown in strict conditions were good for coeliacs which led to oats being labelled ‘gluten free oats’ in 2003.
Our Australian oats are grown and processed following the Global Oats Protocol to prevent contamination from gluten grains. Every batch is independently tested, giving our customers confidence they are choosing pure, uncontaminated Australian oats.
So, while we can’t call them “gluten free” in Australia, we can proudly say they are specially produced and tested to be free from contamination from wheat, rye and barley.
Please refer to Coeliac Australia’s position on oats for up to date information.
https://coeliac.org.au/article/oats-commonly-asked-questions/?utm_source=chatgpt.com