Israel - Draft amendment to "Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling)" announced by Israel Ministry of Health Israel WTO-TBT Enquiry Point has issued draft amendment to Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling) 5776 – 2016 announced by Israel Ministry of Health. The original regulations published in 1996 had set out the obligation to label food containing gluten and determined the manufacturing procedure for "gluten free" food. The current amendment combines few changes that on the one hand expand the variety of gluten free products and on the other hand maintain safety and quality in order to protect the health of gluten intolerant consumers. The major changes introduced in this draft amendment are as follows: · Updates the definition of "gluten" to fit European regulations and Codex Alimentarius standards and applies international legislation and the Mendez Eliza R5 test method. · Adds a new definition for "designated factory" determining the GMP conditions for foodstuffs that do not contain gluten in their nature, such as rice, maze etc. In addition it adds a new sub-regulation 3(2)(b) determining that the fundamental condition for this type of food factories to label their products as "gluten free", is to apply a food safety system such as HACCP or any other system used to identify, analyze and monitor critical stations along the manufacturing procedure. Adds a new sub-regulation 3(2)(c) allowing for imported food labelled as "gluten free" to be consider as a sensitive food, and as such, to be imported into Israel with an alternative GMP certificate issued by an IAF body (International Accreditation Forum). The official list of recognized bodies will be published on Israel's National Food Service's website. Proposed date of adoption: To be determined Proposed date of entry into force: To be determined Final date for comments: 30 days from notification |