I don't know how they get away with not listing an ingredient like BME in Canada, though there are funny exceptions on some "candies", alcoholic bevs, etc. Nevertheless, like NancyLC was saying, I just found this on on another forum:

"Thank you for your response. Our products are not Gluten free because we use Barley Malt in all of our cocoa for the chocolate. We need our malt in a certain form and broken down using a specific process to adhere to the Lindt’s recipe guidelines. Due to the availability of malt under these standards, Barley Malt is currently our only option.

Our white chocolate products by nature do not contain Malt Barley and are therefore, Gluten free. However, because they are run on the same lines as our other products, there is a chance for cross contamination.

Lindt is aware of the growing awareness of Celiac Disease and other conditions. We are sensitive to the fact that these large groups of consumers are unable to enjoy our chocolate at this time. We hope in the future to be able to accommodate the needs of all our consumers and offer options to satisfy varying dietary requirements.

I have also included the nutritional facts for our 70% and semisweet (bittersweet) bar. They do not have milk in them, however, they are manufactured on the same lines as products that do and may contain cross-contamination traces.

Lindt does not have products suitable for “lactose intolerant people”.

Some of our products do not contain milk in the recipe, but because we use the same manufacturing installations for all of our products, cross contamination can occur.

As a rule, dark chocolate does not contain milk. Concerning milk allergies, where the milk protein is the antigen, we have to tell the customers that dark chocolate could contain traces of milk, because of cross contamination. The “may contain “wording informs the customer of the possibility that the product may contain traces of milk.

Please let me know if you have any further questions. I may be contacted via email or at the phone number below.

Kind Regards,

Liz Lindahl

Consumer Affairs Specialist

603-778-3498"