I'll Take My Cosmetics without Gluten Please!

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I'll Take My Cosmetics without Gluten Please!

I avoid eating gluten. Thankfully I do not have Coeliac (Celiac in America) disease (our family all ended up having genetic tests to rule it out as it affects my daughter and I so much) and am instead just sensitive to it, intolerant / allergic. As such I have a vested interest in knowing which foods do and don't contain said allergic particle but when the subject of gluten-free cosmetics came up my initial reaction was 'really? Whatever will they think up next'. However, it turns out that I was wrong. There is a need, albeit a very small one for this.


Gluten is the term used to describe a family of prolamin proteins (proteins that are used as energy stores by plants) that are typically found in the following grains: Barley (hordein), Corn (Zein), rye (secalin), sorghum (kafirin) and of course wheat (gliadin). These particular proteins seem to attack the small intestine of susceptible individuals, flattening off the villi, inflaming the intestine and generally wreaking havoc with the digestive process. Because of the damage that these proteins do to the guts of Coeliac sufferers the health implications are far-reaching and include complications arising from malnutrition to diabetes, a variety of skin imbalances, thyroid conditions and other auto-immune diseases. In addition to obvious physical symptoms Coeliac sufferers can also suffer emotionally both as a consequence of dietary deficiencies and due to the stress placed on the individual to remain vigilant at all times with regards to what is eaten and, as I have recently found out to what comes into contact with the skin.

In the USA Coeliac Disease affects 1 in 133 people.

In the UK it is estimated that 1 in 112 are affected.

The world-wide average is 1 in every 266.

During my research I also found it very interesting that the Sahara population seemed particularly sensitive with 1 in every 70 having the Coeliac genetic finger print!

So, in terms of people with the genetic 'coeliac' fingerprint we are looking at 0.4% of the global population which is fairly small. To put that into context around 2.5% of the population of the USA is Vegan while 5% identify as vegetarian.

But that is only the tip of the gluten iceberg, as I mentioned above, I am gluten sensitive and while I am not in the habit of eating my shampoo, conditioner and face cream I may, on occasion lick my own face or hand or swallow some bubbles while in the shower and while personally I'm not too bothered about a bit of gluten going down with the bubbles I suspect others might not be so flippant. I mentioned the mental strain a little above, this is not to be under-estimated. Indeed the cosmetics industry has seen several big splashes made by people seeking to avoid situations completely as a 'precaution' and boycotting anything that can't prove its self to be in their camp. Think free-from parabens, palm oil, cruelty free etc. Buying a product that has been certified to your align with your own ethic or health standard is comfortably reassuring.

So where does that leave us? Is it enough to worry about making or seeking out gluten-free cosmetics just because we may be worried that we might just swallow? Is there any more to this?

It turns out that for some Coeliac sufferers (and I also suspect eczema, psoriasis and others might fall into this camp too) gluten irritates the skin to the point of disease.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is a skin condition linked to gluten allergy.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is a red, insanely itchy and inflamed skin condition triggered by a gluten allergy. It is more common in men than women and is linked to Coeliac. While this may represent a very small, niche population of potential skin care buyers the idea that topically applied gluten-containing cosmetics COULD trigger something like this is likely to be enough for those of us who suffer the inflammation and discomfort internally when we have eaten gluten.

Coeliac or not avoiding gluten is a full-time job, it is exhausting trying to keep tabs on what is in every single thing we buy so being able to go out and grab something that is certified as safe seems like one less headache!

So right about now you may be wondering about ingredients and more specifically which ones to look out for. As often is the case with cosmetics not all potential gluten containing ingredients carry the word 'gluten' or even 'wheat, barley or oat' in their name. This is because often the feedstock material is split into various fractions to give us actives, surfactants, oils, emollient esters and other such niceties. This makes tracking potential gluten down a little more tricky.

I'll Take My Cosmetics without Gluten Please!

If you go to the European Union INCI database you will be able to find ten ingredients that actually have the word 'gluten' in their name. These ingredients are used as hair or skin conditioners, emollients and/ or actives and could be in any product although I must say I've never personally seen them on a label in this form.

Moving on from that we have to identity the correct INCI names for our gluten containing grains:

Triticum = Wheat (63 ingredients based on wheat)
Avena = Oat. (31 oat based ingredients)
Secale = Rye. (8 ingredients based on Rye).
Hordeum = Barley. (36 ingredients based on Barley).

So there are at least 138 ingredients out there that could end up on your face or body. Scanning labels for those key words will help you with your gluten avoidance.

Consider 'hidden' ingredients that may not be labelled as any of the above.

While this family of ingredients are probably the least likely to cause issue you may want to consider avoiding ingredients that have originated from wheat, oat, rye or barley. Typical examples might be amino acids or proteins which might originate from wheat. Then there is beta glucan from Oats, starch containing ingredients (not all starch ingredients mention the starch origin), Malt based ingredients and more. Logically speaking I would assume that cosmetic ingredients that have been created using wheat, oat, rye or barley as a feedstock would most likely have the gluten removed as part of the up-scale processing and would therefore potentially post little to no threat to those wishing or needing to avoid gluten but as a brand owner wanting to adopt a 'free from wheat, oat, rye or barley' approach knowing the ingredient back story enables you to back up your position.

Check for cross contamination.

Those serious about their wish to avoid gluten would be wise to seek assurances from the product manufacturer that the finished goods remain gluten-free and haven't become contaminated during processing. Just like with food where we see 'made in a facility that processes nuts' it may be that 100% pure gluten-free skin care has to be made in a similarly sterile factory. For the consumer this would be something you can follow-up with the brand owner or hopefully see on the label but for the brand owner it would involve a few discussions with your supply chain and possibly a certification process.

Know your chemistry.

If all of this is looking a bit overwhelming it pays to keep the following in mind, gluten is a protein, proteins are denatured (broken down) by heat, acid and alkali and solvents such as alcohol which are typically used to make plant-based extracts. While I haven't been able to find evidence of this to date it stands to reason that the more 'processed' a cosmetic ingredient is (physically too, not just chemically) the less likely it is to contain gluten in its original and presumably active state. Gluten is also water-soluble so it stands to reason that water based or water active ingredients are a higher risk factor than oil ingredients. That said things like wheatgerm or oat oil can still pose issues, especially when they have been through minimal processing such as we find in organically certified products. The risks here are from the oil containing seed components that haven't been filtered out. Heat treating and refining these oils may lessen the potential risk.

Risk Assess.

While it is easier mentally to just say 'OK I want to avoid everything that might have gone anywhere near to gluten' that can be both difficult and expensive. Therefore some intellectual risk assessing may be more realistic. Products that are going to remain on your hands and lips are more likely to be ingested I guess, maybe consider these more carefully than say your foot scrub or soap bar. Cold-process ingredients may be more risky than heat-treated or refined ingredients due to the chemistry of the gluten. Leave on will be more potentially troubling than rinse off and so on and so forth.

Ask us!

In terms of New Directions we are able to provide you with feedstock information for the ingredients that we sell (ie: comes from wheat, oat, corn, palm etc) but could not at this stage sign a gluten free declaration for a particular cosmetic ingredient. This is because there is a very big difference between stating that something is derived from say corn and therefore by logical reasoning unlikely to contain gluten and saying that the ingredient is absolutely gluten free. A gluten free declaration would require analytical evidence to prove that the levels of gluten were either un-detectable or present at whatever level. As many of you will understand it is impossible to prove the non-existence of a material so in science we tend to pick a 'safe' level and use that as our benchmark. With gluten that level would be set by the coeliac society. With that in mind we would recommend that clients wishing to purchase 'gluten free' ingredients or skincare think of that term as 'gluten minimised' as that is much closer to reality.

I expect the coeliac/ gluten-free market to be full of eager, educated and motivated people ready to jump on anything that works and makes their life easier but while it is great to have such an engaged and switched on market demographic as a brand owner you you might end up exhausted trying to track them down and sell to them. I'd only advise approaching this market segment if :

A) you are well versed in Coeliac and gluten allergies,

B) you can afford to have your products tested and validated as gluten-free and

C) you have a lot of energy for networking in this small but perfectly formed community.

And maybe you could use my tag line: Gluten free - beauty without the bloat.

Amanda Foxon-Hill

6 June 2014

More about: Cosmetics, Gluten Free

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