Sprue-Nik Press on Distillation

The Sprue-Nik Press, published by the Tri-County Celiac Sprue Support Group, a chapter of CSA/USA, Inc. serving southeastern Michigan, Volume 7, Number 5, July/August 1998. Dr. Peter Ernst is Senior Scientist at the Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch. He is the son of Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) co-founder Kay Ernst, and is a celiac himself.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
During Dr. Ernst’s talk, he indicated his philosophy toward celiac disease which is, "Don’t exclude anything if it is unnecessary." As a result he made three assertions which may provoke no major objection from Canadian celiacs but are controversial among US celiacs. Dr. Ernst’s first assertion is that it is almost impossible for gliadins to be in distilled products. For instance, many people avoid distilled vinegar; Dr. Ernst believes this is almost certainly unnecessary. In his mind, there is no "celiac" problem regardless of anecdotal evidence to the contrary. [This is a view shared by the CCA and many experts, including USDA grain expert Donald Kasarda. However, many US celiac organizations, including our support group and CSA/USA, recommend against the use of distilled products unless the source is anon-gluten grain. Each celiac must make their own decision regarding the use of distilled products.—ed.]