Gluten Free Labeling Rule Postcard Party, February 24th!

Join me on Monday, February 24th for a Gluten Free Labeling Rule Postcard Party! 

We need the FDA to enforce the Gluten Free Labeling Rule. Let’s send postcards to get their attention in addition to the other important efforts happening in the gluten-free community. 

If you have to eat gluten-free because of Celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, wheat allergy or any of the myriad of gluten-related illnesses or love someone who does, by now you’ve heard the concerns about foods labeled gluten-free that contain gluten. It’s scary and is dangerous to people who rely on the FDA’s Gluten Free Labeling Rule to be enforced. 

Maybe you submitted one of the 1,400+ comments on this petition to the FDA, authored by Tricia of Gluten Free Watchdog two years ago. And yet we still wait for the rule to be enforced. Maybe you’ve shared a warning on Facebook with your friends about one of the more than thirty products that have been reported to the FDA as “facial misbranding,” meaning they contain gluten but are labeled as gluten-free. And yet nothing has been done by the FDA to get the products off of store shelves. Maybe you’ve waited patiently hoping the FDA would do the right thing. Or do something, anything! Alas, they have not so it is time we act.

On Monday, February 24th, let’s meet virtually at 7 PM Central time for a Postcard Party. You could write a letter if you’d like. There is an example of a letter here from Gluten Free Watchdog. She has started a letter campaign and it’s important. You’ll find lots of useful links, background information and more even if you choose to not use the whole letter. Let’s meet online at 7 PM on Monday the 24th and get some mail on the way to those who can change this important issue.

Here’s Why I Am Sending Postcards In Addition to Letters:

• Short, targeted postcards have proven to be effective
• Postcards are visually engaging
• There is no need to open a postcard
• Postcards are inexpensive

While it is important that we send the detailed letters regarding this issue to those who can impact change, sending frequent visual reminders that there are many of us concerned with this issue is a great step we can take today right now.

I’ve created postcards for you…

Feel free to use the postcards I’ve included below. I’m sharing them in two formats: the .pdf are four postcards to one 8 1/2 x 11 page. You can print at home on cardstock or send them to be printed at your local office store. I’m also including individual photo files of each design, in case you really like one and want to send only that design. You could also design your own or have your kiddos create artwork on postcards. There are eight designs and eight people to send cards to, however you can send more than one card to each person if you are ambitious. Or send a letter and a postcard!

What to include on your postcard…

On your postcard, write in your own words why the Gluten Free Labeling Rule matters to you and why the FDA needs to enforce it. A few examples to help you think on a personal comment to write:

“I have Celiac disease and need to know that gluten-free labels truly mean the food is below twenty parts per million gluten. Please enforce the Gluten Free Labeling Rule.”

“My daughter has celiac disease and spent years very ill. The remedy to years of sickness has only one treatment, a strict gluten-free diet. Enforce the Gluten Free Labeling Rule!”

“Foods that contain wheat, rye or barley should not be labeled gluten-free. Many have been reported to the FDA yet nothing has been done. Enforce the Gluten Free Labeling Rule now!” 

Make it your own, tell your story, share why this is important to you. Include your name and your zip code at a minimum. The FDA needs to know why the Gluten Free Labeling Rule matters. If we want gluten-free foods to be safe for us, this is the time to act. 

Who Do We Send Postcards To? 

Let’s start by sending them to the FDA contacts listed below and Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the department which administers the FDA.

Secretary Alex M. Azar II
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

Laurie Lenkel, Director
FDA Office of the Ombudsman
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
WO1, Room 4204
Silver Spring, MD 20993

Robin McKinnon
Senior Advisor, Nutrition Policy
CFSAN
5001 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20740-3835

Susan Mayne, Director
CFSAN
5001 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20740-3835

Stephen M. Hahn, MD, FDA Commissioner
White Oak Building One
10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Room 2217
Silver Spring, MD 20993

Megan Velez, Acting Director
Office of Regulations and Policy
CFSAN
5001 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20740-3835

Claudine Kavanaugh, Director
Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling
CFSAN
5001 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20740-3835

William A. Correll, Jr., Director
Office of Compliance
CFSAN
5001 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20740-3835

The Postcards: 

Click below for two separate pages, each with four postcard designs. Or you can right click to save each of the individual photos below, each sized to be a postcard. 

First Four Postcards: glutenfreepostcards
Second Four Postcards: glutenfreepostcards2

Individual postcards images are below. You can right click to save each one individually if that is preferable to the .pdf files above. 

Please share the link to this page with your friends who are gluten-free or love someone who is. We can all impact positive change for the entire gluten-free community if we join together. Let’s do this! Share photos of your postcards online using the hashtag #glutenfreemail. 

If you have questions about the postcard party, feel free to comment below, or find me on Facebook or Instagram. In addition to being an advocate for the gluten-free community, I’ve been a key member in three recent civic initiatives of critical importance that began with postcard and letter writing campaigns. All three have resulted in legislative changes over the course of only four years. I believe in the power of a simple postcard and can’t wait to meet online for a postcard party Monday, February 24th!