Current status of online sales of gluten-free foods and challenges

Abstract

We surveyed the current status of information provision on 117 Internet sites that sell gluten-free foods in Japan to investigate misunderstandings by customers when selecting products. On more than 90% of the sites, the prices, content, product photos, and sellers of their goods were listed, whereas the storage methods, expiration and freshness dates, and additives were only provided on 67.5%, 51.3%, and 47.9%, respectively. The specific raw materials, including allergens, were only listed on 40.2% of the sites. Approximately 60% of the sites listed “allergy” as an adverse effect of gluten-free foods. “Health” and “weight loss” were listed on 38.5% and 29.9% of sites, respectively, but “celiac disease” and “wheat intolerance/hypersensitivity”, which are the target diseases of gluten-free foods, were only described on 7.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Even on sites selling gluten-free foods for wheat allergy, more than half did not provide information on the possibility of allergen contamination or information on production lines. In addition, 64.7% of the sites indicating