Gluten Threshold

[Alfred]

Greetings, Folks.

 

I don't have Celiac disease but I have a question about the amount of gluten it takes to elicit a reaction. And is it an immediate response or does it take a while to come on. I'm looking to be educated on this matter. Let me tell you why I am asking. I am an organic farmer in the making. I'm getting the ground on my farm prepared for planting oats next year. I love oats and I am developing a line of products based on oat flour. And I understand that people with Celiac disease are not adversely effected by consuming oats.

 

I've spent the last 6 months or so developing a recipe for oat hotcakes. I have 7 varieties now. And they are all delicious. I've been buying my oats from a local organic farmer. I want to sell my product as gluten free but I can't. I can't because the farmer that I buy the oats from also processes wheat on the same equipment as the oats. However if I test my oat flour for gluten and it measures less than 20ppm, then I can label my product as gluten free.

 

Now getting to the crux of the matter. How sensitive are people with Celiac to very small amounts of Gluten? Does anyone have any idea quantitatively? Or how about qualitatively speaking? So for example if one grain of wheat was consumed by a person with Celiac disease, how would that person be effected, if at all?

 

In the next few days I will have my mixes tested for gluten. If they turn out to have slightly higher levels of gluten than the FDA specifies for a product to be gluten free, I may have to sell them as a low gluten product. Do the words "low in gluten" have any meaning to a person with Celiac? Is it all or nothing when you have Celiac?

 

Any response would be so greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!   

[kareng]

Please don't sell contaminated oats as "low gluten" or "gluten free".  "low gluten" is just a term some people use to try to trick Celiacs and others sensitive to gluten into thinking their product is safe.  There are farmers that produce certified gluten free oats.

 

As for the amount we can tolerate - there were studies that have determined less than 20 ppm as being safe.  Howeve, many of the good US companies test to 10 or 5 ppm.

[bartfull]

"Low in gluten" = poison to anyone with celiac.

 

Most if not all of us must eat certified gluten-free oats, and even then, some of us get sick. If they guy you get the oats from uses the same equipment on wheat, one batch MAY pass, but another one may not. It sounds like you have a good product, but perhaps you should market your product as organic and let it go at that.

 

And by the way, I appreciate your coming here to ask and educate yourself about celiac. So many companies try to make the gluten-free claim without knowing the least bit about the disease. Dominoes Pizza comes to mind. They came out with a gluten-free pizza a few years ago that was so far from being truly gluten-free that they finally made a disclaimer.

 

I wish you the best of luck.

[Alfred]

Thank you Bartfull. I am now getting educated! :-)

 

I do have a great product. These hotcakes are thick and the texture is great. I have 7 varieties so far, and more later. I have whole grain oat, blueberry oat, cranberry oat, chocolate chip oat, peanut butter chip oat, ginger snap oat, and marshmallow oat. I never intended to make a gluten free product. I just love oats. I think what I'll do is sell them as NOT Gluten Free until I develop a source of truly gluten free oats. When I start growing them I'll be all set. Thank you for the response, I really appreciate the feedback.

[Alfred]

Thank you KarenG. I appreciate your input!

[mamaw]

Alfred there are companies that do sell gluten free oats .... until you are ready to produce your own gluten free oats....

[Alfred]

I realize that Mamaw. I haven't had time to process all of this. My focus is "locally grown in Maine". I may have to deviate from that for a while as you say if I want to be gluten free. The added cost however may be an issue. I've got to look in to all of this. Thank you for your comment.

[jennifer101]

are you kidding me??? people w CELIAC disease CAN NOT TAKE a chance!!! cross contamination is the "BIG" fear!! because we obviously have to steer clear from all things containing GLUTEN. this just pisses me off! when will people understand that this is not an allergy like pollen or peanuts but realize this is an auto immune disease!?!?!?!?!?

[ravenwoodglass]

are you kidding me??? people w CELIAC disease CAN NOT TAKE a chance!!! cross contamination is the "BIG" fear!! because we obviously have to steer clear from all things containing GLUTEN. this just pisses me off! when will people understand that this is not an allergy like pollen or peanuts but realize this is an auto immune disease!?!?!?!?!?

Very few people who are not celiac understand the cross contamination issue until they do some research. Alfred is doing the responsible thing and coming to us for information. I am thankful that he is doing so while his product is in development. You should be too.

[SMRI]

Another thing to consider is that many people with Celiac can not tolerate oats.  I was also told no oats for the first year after diagnosis as well.  I recently ate at a restaurant that had gluten-free pancakes (hotcakes) and they used potato flour.  They were very good!  Maybe look into doing that?

[mamaw]

I agree  Alfred  is  going  about  this  in the  right  way but  as  he  knows  & we all know  there's  a lot  to  learn....... & SMRI 's  post  before this  one  is also  correct.... I've  been  eating gluten-free oats  since  they  first  appeared in our  world  which  has been many years  now  but  I still can only eat 1/2 cup  once/twice a  week  at  best... usually  it  is  once/twice a  MONTH   ....... &  then  there our  gluten-free  people  who  can  not tolerate  oats  ever.....

[nvsmom]

I'm actually afraid to try oats again.  I don't always react violently to being glutened, my symptoms tend to grow over repeated exposures beyond the bloat and headache, so I just don't try it.  My symptoms sneak up on me so it is hard to figure out why I am slowly feeling worse and worse.  Anyway, even eating gluten-free oats is a risk I would rather not take.

 

I agree that marketing it as organic would probably be the way to go.

[bartfull]

Now SMRI just had a good idea! If you could make a line made from potato flour there would be not problem with contamination, and as we all know, Maine grows (sorry Idaho) the best potatoes in the world. Locally grown AND gluten-free. What could be better?

[Alfred]

Hello Bartfull.

 

I was going to wait until the end of the day to respond to all of the recent posts so I can focus on work. But your comment was too hard to resist! :-)

 

Potatoes are definitely in the works. I had the idea a while ago but decided to pursue the oats first. And your right about Maine and potatoes, especially in Aroostook County where I live. I love the heirloom varieties (old varieties) of potatoes. They come in different colors and shapes and sizes, textures, flavors, etc, etc. You know it's going to be hard to not distract myself now, with thoughts of how to dry potatoes in preparation for grinding in to flour, and growing them, etc. Thanks to you and SMRI. :-)

 

Back to work I go! 

[bartfull]

 If you come up with a gluten-free pancake made with potato flour, let me know. I'd be proud and happy to be the first to test it!!

[SMRI]

Open Original Shared Link

 

This is where I had the potato flour gluten-free pancakes.  Maybe they can be of assistance!!  They were VERY good!!  My daughter liked them better than her regular pancakes even.

[Alfred]

I checked out the restaurant SMRI. VERY cool that a restaurant would offer gluten-free food! I wonder if they were Pamela's brand of pancakes or they're own recipe? You know I tried Bob's Red Mill GL pancakes and I thought they were terrible.

 

I think I've come up with a temporary solution to my hotcake dilemma. I'm going to offer a Low-Gluten product for folks who simply don't want wheat (but their not allergic or do not have an immune disease), and that would love to try an all-oat flour hotcake. The other piece to my temporary solution is that I think I can also offer a GL free plain whole grain oat hotcake mix. I would use certified GL free oats for that mix. The oats wouldn't come from Maine and they would be more expensive. That extra expense might be offset by the price of the mix. I haven't thought through this yet, so I may be premature in saying any of this.

 

Making an all-potato flour mix is a no brainer. I can't wait to start experimenting with potato flour. I gotta get through the oat issues first and get my website up, and make some sales before I can add a potato flour mix to my product line. It's going to happen though.

 

I want to thank everyone who responded to my post. It's been an eye opener for me. I had no knowledge about Celiac disease or gluten-free except for the very basic, that some people "suffered" from consuming gluten containing products. It's no fun being sick and having to scrutinize every little morsel that you put into your mouth, for fear of getting REALLY ill. I'm glad there are food products out there that you can enjoy and not have to worry about. Once I have a truly GL-Free product available I will let you know.

 

Al       

[SMRI]

From what I understood, it was their own mixture.  I think the Pamela's note on there is an ad.