The Gluten Free Blog

Do you remember the first time you were in a restaurant and you said you were gluten free? I don’t know about you but my waitress looked at me like my head had just spun round and I’d puked up green bile. Suddenly, every visit to a restaurant or a friend’s house felt like an ordeal. ‘Oh what can you eat?’ ‘You’re so difficult to cook for!’

Well listen up people. Being gluten free is the new black. So much so that, The Daily Beast has declared it number three on their list of top ten food trends for 2010. (Number 1 and 2 being organic chocolate and coconut. Go figure.)

In fact, Globe Life declared ‘being gluten free’ as one of the top stories of last year (along with keeping your own chickens; why local produce isn’t always as good as it seems; and how we should all be eating less salt.)

So what’s happening here? Is it now uber-trendy to be gluten free?

No, not really. It does seem that people being diagnosed with coeliac disease is very much on the rise. Globe Life reports that researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota found that one in 100 people are now affected compared with only one in every 400 to 500 half a century ago.

Has modern production, processing and additives led to an increase in the disease? Or are medical professionals now recognising the disease and its debilitating affects more readily?

Either way, people following a gluten free diet will hopefully have even more choice in the coming year, whether that’s in their local restaurant or local grocery store. And that’s a good thing.

If you’re following a gluten free diet you’ll be familiar with the gluten free label on foods. But how free of gluten is ‘gluten free’? Is it possible to have a product totally free of gluten?

Well, no.

In reality, foodstuffs labelled ‘gluten free’ do contain traces of gluten. But it’s in such tiny amounts it’s considered not harmful to a coeliac sufferer. For food to be labelled ‘gluten free’ it needs to have less than 20mg of gluten per kg. In other words 200 parts per million (ppm). (This applies in European Union countries only.)

Food products which contain between 20 and 100ppm can be labelled ‘very low gluten’ and these may suit sufferers who have less sensitivity to gluten. Or are able to eat gluten occasionally.

This two tier labelling system came into affect in January 2009 but manufactures have until January 2012 to comply with the law.

Don’t forget that some mainstream products like crisps (potato chips) and rice cakes are naturally gluten free although the manufacturer may not choose to label it as such. As always, remember to check the label!

Find out more about other gluten free foods.

An interesting article appeared in the Los Angeles Times this week.

Dr Robert Anderson, a gastroenterologist based in Melbourne, Australia, is working on a vaccine or pill to prevent or switch off a person’s reaction to gluten.

Currently there are two types of treatment being developed. One would work alongside a gluten free diet and protect sufferers from the occasional ingestion of gluten. The other would train the immune system to accept gluten and would enable a sufferer to follow a regular diet.

The first system uses enzyme therapy which breaks gluten down into tiny particles and therefore doesn’t cause inflammation of the intestine.

The second system uses immunotherapy and allows patients to eat a regular diet by stopping the immune response in the gut.

Phase 1 of the trials are due to be completed in 2010 and Anderson says that patients would receive a series of injections of the vaccine, followed by occasional maintenance doses.

Are you coeliac sufferer? How would your life be different if you could take a pill before a meal or receive regular shots to stop your reaction to gluten? Is it something you’d do?

Read the full article in the Los Angeles Times.