Gluten Free Defined?

A recent response to my "It Still May be Edible" post got me thinking more about the term Gluten Free. At face value, Gluten Free would be interpreted as being completely void or free of gluten. However, this is not the case on a number of fronts.
All grains, including rice and corn, contain gluten. I myself was surprised when I first learned of this. However, as shown in the table in this article, wheat, barley and rye come from a different branch of the grain family tree. http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/10/3/172.pdf (See Figure 1. Taxonomy of Common Dietary Grains and Table 2. Gluten Content of Various Grains).
This then brings us to the discussion of oats. Oats in the Celiac diet are controversial. Many celiacs are able to include uncontaminated oats in their diet. The fact that some are not able to consume oats, maybe due to oats being a closer relative to wheat, barley and rye vs rice and corn. However, when it comes to labelling... it then depends on which country you live in. The FDA in the United States currently does not include oats along with wheat, barley, and rye when labelling something gluten free. (See #16)  http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/FoodAllergensLabeling/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm111487.htm#q11 
In Canada, if a label says it is gluten free, oats is included along with wheat, barley and rye as being prohibited. http://glutenfreediet.ca/blog/?p=176 Not even uncontaminated oats is allowed to carry the Gluten Free label in Canada.
The next eye opener is broken down into parts per million (ppm). A gluten free label in Canada and the United States, means that there is no more than 20ppm of gluten in the product. Gluten free does not mean that there is zero gluten in the product. In the European Union gluten free standards previously allowed for no more than 200ppm of gluten, but have now revised these regulations to 20ppm- however, these new rules will not be enforced until January 2012. Austrailia and new Zealand on the other hand, reserves the Gluten Free label for products containing no detectable traces of gluten, and is the strictest in the world. This label requires a measure of gluten that is in the range of less than 3 to 5ppm! http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=100494046660564&topic=272 Many countries do not have any standards in place for gluten free labelling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free_diet 
There are also many products that do not contain any ingredients which are of concern, and yet are not labelled as being gluten free. This could be be as a result that it is made in a plant where wheat or other problematic grains are being used, or that the manufacturer does not want to go to the trouble of getting a product labelled gluten free because of the compliance that would then be involved.

While standards are improving and becoming slowly clearer, there are some Celiacs I have discovered that feel the need to go grain free. This means that not even corn or rice are eaten. These individuals find they are still symptomatic even though they follow the current accepted gluten free diet. Going grain free thus virtually eliminates any gluten in the diet from being ingested. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/life/story.html?id=44ca5fc0-8f4b-4833-b1b2-0b258b608961&k=21125

Essentially what Gluten Free eating boils down to, is what you feel is best for your personal health. Gluten free is a relative term to guide you, that is backed up by the food regulations where you live. Whether that includes oats or not is up to the individual Celiac and their personal "gluten free" diet. Gluten free does not mean that no gluten is being consumed- rather it is an accepted amount of gluten that is suitable for most Celiacs, proposed by the medical community and enforced by government. On the flip side, something that does not have a Gluten Free label does not necessarily mean that it is not safe to consume either. Use your educated judgement where labels have failed to keep up with the times. Therefore if you feel that your risk is low for consuming gluten in products that have not been labelled Gluten Free (of course reading your labels each time), then do so if you feel comfortable. If you feel you need to remove all gluten, go grain free. The best judge in your own health is often yourself. Be informed. Go with your "gut".