by Jen Johnston, CHHC, senior marketing services account managerÂ
Is your non-ingestible personal care product free from gluten and cross contamination? Then please, do tell!
According to cureceliacdisease.org, celiac disease affects about 3 million Americans. That’s roughly equal to the number of people living in the state of Nevada. Do people with celiac disease eat shampoo, lotion, and make-up? Of course not, but this is the question I often get when I mention the need for gluten-free personal care products.
Gluten proteins are also not absorbed through the skin, however gluten protein does remain on top of the skin and on the hair after product use. This means if a person with celiac disease uses a shampoo with a gluten ingredient, touches their hair at any point throughout the day and then grabs a snack without washing their hands, they can ingest the gluten and become sick. (Same thing if a mom like me uses a lotion with a gluten ingredient and my celiac kindergartener touches me and promptly grabs his rice cake.)
If your product is already gluten free, consider labeling it on your next packaging run. It’s just ten letters that you can present in a small font size on the back panel. Most regular folks won’t even care or notice. But for the 3 million Americans suffering from celiac disease (and their families) they may reward you with a purchase.