The Food List manager has produced the following guidelines for Butchers producing their own gluten-free sausages, puddings and burgers.

Update:There is now a list of gluten-free seasonings for butchers available. If you have any questions please contact us by emailing foodlist@coeliac.ie.

• All ingredients must be gluten-free. Special care is required when buying naturally gluten-free flour.
• Since 1998, it has been a legal requirement in Ireland for all food businesses to have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point).
• Seasonings, fillers and binders used as ingredients in gluten-free products should be purchased from reliable suppliers and a certificate of gluten analysis should be acquired at the time of purchase, this is to ensure that there are no gluten contamination risks.
• Gluten-free products should be produced, packaged and stored in an area dedicated solely to this purpose. Please read the FSAI draft guidelines to prevent cross-contamination of gluten-free foods. These guidelines provide guidance on the minimum requirements for the production of foods described as ‘gluten-free’ or ‘very low gluten’ and apply to all involved in the handling, production and preparation and distribution of gluten-free products. They can be incorporated into your HACCP plan.
• All equipment and machinery used for the production of gluten-free products must be kept in this area and used solely for the production of the gluten free products.
• Gluten-free products for retailing must be labelled according to regulations. The FSAI have also produced updated guidelines for labelling food.
• Sample products should be tested at regular intervals to ensure they are consistently gluten-free.