Gluten Detector

[dragonmom]

IS THERE ANYTHING OUT THERE THAT YOU CAN STICK IN FOOD TO SEE IF IT HAS GLUTEN IN IT OR NOT? I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GREAT INVENTION, IF I had a clue how to do it , I would. Not my field , science.

[Guest Villanfam]

There are gluten testing kits out there, but from the reviews on them they don't seem to be sensitive enough. Try googling food testing kits.

[happygirl]

Oh, wouldn't that be great.

I had to laugh, because I refer to myself as the human gluten detector, because I am such a sensitive Celiac. :)

[Guest cassidy]

There is a kit out there. I emailed the company trying to get more information and they never got back to me. I think they are pretty expensive (several dollars at least) and that it takes 10-20 minutes to get results. I posted something about this a while ago and it seemed like, if it is sensitive enough (I have no clue about that), then it would only make sense to test a particular product rather than testing every meal you eat a restaurant because of the expense, time and fact that you would have to sample every part of your meal.

If they have a start on this technology with the current test, it would be great if they could master it. I've been watching CSI Miami reruns lately and they can take a powder sample, mix it with some liquid and determine if it is cocaine, so I don't see why the same couldn't be done with gluten.

[RiceGuy]

I was just thinking about this yesterday. I'm picturing the ideal deice would be like a Star Trek Tricorder, and you'd just wave it over a food/substance and it detects the presence of gluten. If there is a "gluten frequency", I'd start on it asap. Something tells me there could be a resonant electromagnetic frequency to the protein fraction, but since it is so small, I think the current technology simply isn't up to the task.

However, looking at it from a different angle:

The antibodies which are designed to attach to the adenovirus might possibly be used to detect gluten, and I would not be surprised if that's how the current testers do it. This would seem to require a sample to be mixed in some solution with the antibodies. As the antibodies attach to gluten, I guess there would be a certain amount of coagulation. That may be detectable as a change in the electrical conductivity or optical characteristics of the solution. This would also account for the time required for detection.

Being familiar with electronics and not organic chemistry, biology, and the like, I'd rather think in terms of an electronic device. But again, given the small size of the protein fraction, I think it's highly unlikely that a device like a Tricorder is realistic at present.

Maybe a better solution would be to stop cultivating the 20,000 some-odd wheat hybrids now in commercial production (all with magnified amounts of gluten), and start growing the original, natural wheat varieties. Those had 2 and 4 sets of chromosomes, not upwards of 12 or more as in today's hybrids. How ironic it is that man would alter a food staple such that it becomes toxic, just to get better bread texture. Especially when all he really needed was a little guar gum or xanthan gum.

[Nancym]

Yeah! I wish. I need something like the "stud finder" I bought yesterday (to find wood studs in walls, not hunkly studs on the street). You wave it over your plate and it sounds an alarm if there's gluten.

[nikki-uk]

Yeah! I wish. I need something like the "stud finder" I bought yesterday (to find wood studs in walls, not hunkly studs on the street). You wave it over your plate and it sounds an alarm if there's gluten.

....is there such a thing??? LOL!!

[Nancym]

....is there such a thing??? LOL!!

Well, there should be!

[mndude]

There is a kit out there. I emailed the company trying to get more information and they never got back to me. I think they are pretty expensive (several dollars at least) and that it takes 10-20 minutes to get results. I posted something about this a while ago and it seemed like, if it is sensitive enough (I have no clue about that), then it would only make sense to test a particular product rather than testing every meal you eat a restaurant because of the expense, time and fact that you would have to sample every part of your meal.

If they have a start on this technology with the current test, it would be great if they could master it. I've been watching CSI Miami reruns lately and they can take a powder sample, mix it with some liquid and determine if it is cocaine, so I don't see why the same couldn't be done with gluten.

How about a microwave oven set on a small range of frequencys that distroys only the wheat shaped protiens rather than heating the food. This would render any cross contamiments (sp) that were on the dish so it would make any meal safe then you could cook as you normally do. it would be nice to be able to serailze the food in this way.