Hammond, IN (June 2008) — PacMoore officially announced that its plant in Mooresville, Indiana, is a 100% “Gluten-Free” facility. The Mooresville plant will meet the needs of major food manufacturers who produce gluten-free items such as cereals, breads, breadings, cakes, cookies, and brownie mixes for a growing market. These products require an environment where the potential for cross-contamination is not just controlled, but totally eliminated.
Since ordinary wheat flour contains approximately 12% gluten, even a tiny amount of flour can cross-contaminate gluten-free product. Therefore, considerable care must be taken to prevent cross-contamination — especially in high-volume, commercial food preparation.
Most food processing plants have to clean and sanitize their lines to prepare them for running gluten-free products. But the very presence of gluten in the plant always poses the risk of accidental cross-contamination.
“The gluten-free diet which requires guaranteed, properly labeled gluten-free products has become a necessity for hundreds of thousands of consumers”, said Bill Moore, President of PacMoore. “Because we have two plants, we have been able to process all the products derived from wheat flour, rye or barley at our Hammond facility. This allows for a pure, 100% gluten-free environment at our Mooresville location.”
*Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies gluten as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and it is up to the manufacturers of “gluten-free” food items to guarantee such a claim. A final rule that defines the term “gluten-free” and the criteria that would enable the food industry to use it is scheduled to be released by the FDA on August 2nd, 2008.