The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), an industry leader in the certification of gluten-free products and food services, announced it is rebranding the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) mark to support its expanding presence in international markets. To date, over 60,000 products from 51 countries have earned GFCO certification. The GFCO certification program protects consumers with gluten-related disorders by confirming that a product meets strict standards for gluten-free safety. GFCO companies will have until 2022 to completely adopt the new mark on packaging.

After years of careful consideration, along with consultation with international legal experts, GIG determined that a design change was required to meet international trademark regulations. Additionally, the design change will make the mark more easily identifiable to global consumers and will protect the value of its certification internationally. GFCO is the only gluten-free certification that holds companies and products accountable through audits, random product testing and process surveillance. All GFCO certification bodies are accredited to ISO 17065, ensuring they follow internationally established best practices for auditing and product certification.

With the increased demand for label transparency globally, this new mark is meant to add even greater value to brands that are certified by GFCO. The design of the rebranded GFCO mark includes several identifiable features including:

• The words “Certified Gluten Free” leave no question as to what the new mark represents.
• The GFCO mark meets both the USDA requirements as well as international trademark registration requirements.
• The inclusion of the gfco.org website on the mark not only clearly identifies GFCO as the owner of the mark, it also directs consumers to the GFCO website where they can search for certified gluten-free products.
• Bi-lingual French-English and Spanish-English GFCO marks will be available in the coming months.

Additionally, the rebranded certification mark represents more than a GF-safe product. According to Cynthia Kupper, CEO of GIG, “excess revenue from the certification program helps fund many of GIG’s important community programs, including summer camps and a mentorship program for children, a teen summit, education initiatives for schools, over 90 local support groups and food safety research.”

“GFCO’s rebranding highlights GIG’s continued commitment to the gluten-free community across the globe to help alleviate shopper confusion about what products are truly GFCO-certified gluten free,” said Channon Quinn, COO of GIG. “The new GFCO mark is intentionally designed to stand out from other gluten-free symbols to ensure products secure consumer trust. We look forward to the value-add this new mark will give our product manufacturers that have earned the certification through their strong commitment to producing quality, gluten-free products that are safe.”

Source: Gluten Intolerance Group