No, we really would not know. Is ‘malt’ on a label malted rice (fine) or malted barley (gluten)?
Is caramel coloring from a gluten source, or is it okay?
What does ‘starch added’ mean? Corn? Rice? Wheat?
What are ‘natural flavors’?
Were those corn tortillas made on the same equipment as wheat tortillas? Were those rice crackers packaged on the same equipment as graham crackers?
You’d think oats/oatmeal was gluten-free, right? Only if it is processed on dedicated equipment. Otherwise, it is cheaper to process it after wheat on the same machinery. If it says “gluten free”, I know that it is safe.
If it doesn’t say “gluten-free”, how do we know?
When 20 ppm is all it takes to do major damage to our guts, something that says “gluten free” means something. Especially in light of the above. I see those and other phrases all the time and even after looking it up, have no idea what it contains unless I see the GF label.
I have to admit that that surprises me, but clearly you would know, being much closer to it. I was basing my thoughts on the “carb-free”/”low-carb” trend of a few years back, where a bag of frozen broccoli would be labeled as such.