Every grain, every lot, and the number published.
We test our flour down to 2 ppm and gluten is completely undetected. But a lab test is just the final check. This result is built on three strict operational controls.
HETC has never processed wheat.
Since the day our facility opened, it has only processed millets and sorghum. We have never run wheat, dairy, nuts, soy or egg on any of our lines.
Many commodity suppliers rely on segregation and deep cleaning to keep gluten out. That means they are managing an active hazard inside their building. We do not have to clean out wheat, because there has never been any wheat here to clean out.
Sourced from wheat-free regions.
A lot of cross-contact happens before the grain even reaches the mill. If millet is grown in the same fields as wheat, or transported in the same trucks, it gets contaminated.
We source directly from Telangana, India. The local farms grow rice, maize and pulses, not wheat. By buying from a region with a different crop cycle, we eliminate field-level cross-contamination at source.
Grain is cleaned, graded and washed on arrival, and stored under CO2 rather than chemical fumigation.
Approved lab results.
Even with strict sourcing and a dedicated facility, we test every single batch. We test each grain type individually before blending, so a clean grain cannot dilute or hide a contaminated one.
| Gluten | Not detected · LOQ 2 mg/kg |
|---|---|
| Wheat | Not detected · LOQ 2 mg/kg |
| Milk | Not detected · LOQ 0.4 mg/kg |
| Peanut | Not detected · LOQ 1 mg/kg |
| Soybean | Not detected · LOQ 40 µg/kg |
When a lab says not detected, it only matters if you know their limit. The FDA standard for gluten-free is 20 ppm. Strict certifiers look for 10 ppm. Our tests look all the way down to 2 ppm.
| FDA gluten-free labelling threshold | < 20 ppm |
|---|---|
| Common certification programme limit | < 10 ppm |
| Our limit of quantification | 2 mg/kg · not detected |
Why millet and sorghum flour fail gluten testing.
Millet and sorghum are naturally gluten-free plants, but the bulk flour you buy on the open market is often highly contaminated.
Thompson T, Lee AR, Grace T. “Gluten contamination of grains, seeds, and flours in the United States: a pilot study.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2010;110(6):937–940. Twenty-two naturally gluten-free grains, seeds and flours not labelled gluten-free, purchased at retail and tested in duplicate by Ridascreen Gliadin sandwich R5 ELISA with cocktail extraction, limit of quantification 5 ppm. Seven of the twenty-two exceeded 20 ppm.
This contamination is not because commodity millers are careless. It is a structural supply chain problem. Shared fields, shared storage and shared milling lines make cross-contact inevitable.
Naturally gluten-free only describes the plant in the ground. It does not guarantee the flour in the bag is safe. That requires a completely isolated supply chain, which is exactly what we have built.
Gluten in millet and sorghum flour, in parts per million
Log scale · 1–3,000 ppmContamination figures are mean values from Thompson T, Lee AR, Grace T, “Gluten contamination of grains, seeds, and flours in the United States: a pilot study”, Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2010;110(6):937–940. Twenty-two naturally gluten-free products not labelled gluten-free were tested in duplicate by R5 ELISA with cocktail extraction; seven exceeded 20 ppm. The FDA threshold for a gluten-free claim is 20 ppm and certification programmes commonly require 10.
How we test today, and what we are building next.
We believe in absolute transparency. Our clean lab results cover both the individual grains and the final formulated Triple Blend. We do not rely on historical data to clear a shipment; every lot is tested.
Currently our panels are run by fully accredited third-party laboratories in India, and we are commissioning US-based laboratories to run the same panels so your QA team can review data from a laboratory it recognises.
To scale this level of rigour we are building out our own accredited in-house laboratory. That will bring continuous testing directly onto the factory floor alongside the third-party work, rather than in place of it.
We do not currently hold gluten-free certification. Our results sit an order of magnitude below the certification threshold, and the facility already operates to the required standard, but we are not going to describe ourselves as certified before we are.