Whole Grain Oats...

[JerryK]

I'm looking at a nature valley, Oats 'n Honey Gronola Bar here.

I know there seems to be some debate about oats in general. The indredients say:

"WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL, CRISP RICE WITH SOY PROTEIN (RICE FLOUR, SOY PROTIEN CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, MALT, SALT) HONEHY, BROWN SUGAR SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT SOY LECITHIN, BAKING SODA, NATURAL FLAVOR, PEANUT FOUR, ALMOND FLOUR, PECAN FLOUR...

CONTAINS SOY, PEANUT, ALOMOND AND PECAN INGREDIENTS.

Bad...good? Any thoughts. Thanks, Jerry

[ravenwoodglass]

Hi Jerry, This is off limits regardless of the oats because it contains malt. Malt is derived from barley unless stated clearly otherwise. Malt is also the reason we can not eat most mainstream cereals even rice crispies or corn pops.

Atkins used to make a couple of breakfast type bars that were good and were safe although call to make sure they still are before you try them. The strawberry was real good IMHO. In addition Glutino makes a line of filled bars that are okay and there are others.

[JerryK]

Hi Jerry, This is off limits regardless of the oats because it contains malt. Malt is derived from barley unless stated clearly otherwise. Malt is also the reason we can not eat most mainstream cereals even rice crispies or corn pops.

Thanks much. What about just plain oats..Quaker Oats, etc...if you find stuff without malt??

[dlp252]

Thanks much. What about just plain oats..Quaker Oats, etc...if you find stuff without malt??

I wouldn't do Quaker just because of cross-contamination issues. If you want to try oats, try the *real* Irish type oats, but just be forwarned that many people have a reaction to oats because I believe the structure of the protein is similar enough to gluten. (Could be wrong about that last half of the sentence though.)

[Katie618]

oats would normally be a "safe" food, it is considered unsafe because of how the oats are harvested and processed. equipment used to harvest wheat is also is used to harvest oats; then are processed on the same line as the wheat- therefore creating cross contamination (CC). some celiacs are not affected by this- i believe most just stay away for the risk. if you are looking for a breakfast bar, or a "power" bar there are some- Maya, Larabar, Boomi Bars... check out glutenfreemall.com, there is a whole section entitled "bars"

i would suggest printing out the safe and forbidden foods list on this website, they are very helpful- i've been gluten-free since the middle of june- and i still use the lists all of the time!!

[tarnalberry]

Yep - those particular bars (and many like them) have malt, and the labeling laws don't require any further disclosure than what you see in the ingredients, as malt is usually barley derived, and barley is not one of the eight major allergens.

As for regular whole oats:

1) The Contamination Issue

There is a major cross contamination issue with oats. Given the growing, processing, and packaging conditions for oats, it's no surprise that a study of major brands, including Country Pride, McCanns, and Quaker, have shown *ALL* of those brands to be *CONSISTENTLY* contaminated at levels even above the European CODEX standard of 200ppm. Even Quaker tells Celiacs who call not to use their products due to contamination.

There are two companies in the US, and one in Canada, that produce oats that are managed in a way that is intended to keep them from being contaminated with wheat. Open Original Shared Link is one of them in the US, and Open Original Shared Link is the one in Canada.

2) The Cross Reactivity Issue

The main protein in oats - avenin - has a stretch of amino acids on it that is very similar, chemically and physically, to the stretch of 33 amino acids on the wheat protein - gliadin - that causes the autoimmune reaction. These two portions are less similar than the wheat protein and the barley or rye protein, but much more similar than the wheat protein and rice or corn protein.

Studies have shown that approximately 10% of celiacs react to pure, lab-grown oats with the same villi-damaging autoimmune reaction as with wheat. There is no seriologic test to find out if any particular person is one of this 10%, unfortunately.

[kbtoyssni]

There is a company in Canada that makes gluten-contamination free oats. If you do decide to try oats hoping that you're one of the 90% who won't react, you might be able to find them at a gluten-free/health food-type store. That's where I found mine (and I live in the USA).

[CarlaB]

Jerry, to summarize what everyone has already said, if you want to try oats, you have to get the ones that are labeled gluten-free. Some people will still react due to the similarity of the oat protein to the wheat protein.

Any oats not labeled gluten-free are most likely contaminated ... that especially includes Quaker ... I won't even eat their rice cakes!!

For other products, you don't necessarily have to look for a marking of "gluten-free", but for oats, you do.

[Susanna]

Thanks much. What about just plain oats..Quaker Oats, etc...if you find stuff without malt??

Good news--there is now a company (Gifts of Nature) providing the first certified gluten free oats. I read about this in Living Without Magazine. Evidently, these oats are grown in dedicated fields (as opposed to most oats, which may be grown in fields rotated with wheat crops), and they're processed in dedicated gluten free facilities. Most experts now seem to agree that oats are genetically enough different from wheat/barley/rye glutens that they are safe for celiacs. So, if indeed the cross contamination issue is addressed, like Gifts of Nature claims, their oats should be safe for us. Here's the info:

Open Original Shared Link

Personally, I've eaten the Irish steel cut oats, as well as Health Valley oatmeal cookies, and have not had problems.

Susanna

[mtdawber]

As for regular whole oats:

1) The Contamination Issue

There is a major cross contamination issue with oats. Given the growing, processing, and packaging conditions for oats, it's no surprise that a study of major brands, including Country Pride, McCanns, and Quaker, have shown *ALL* of those brands to be *CONSISTENTLY* contaminated at levels even above the European CODEX standard of 200ppm. Even Quaker tells Celiacs who call not to use their products due to contamination.

There are two companies in the US, and one in Canada, that produce oats that are managed in a way that is intended to keep them from being contaminated with wheat. Open Original Shared Link is one of them in the US, and Open Original Shared Link is the one in Canada.

2) The Cross Reactivity Issue

The main protein in oats - avenin - has a stretch of amino acids on it that is very similar, chemically and physically, to the stretch of 33 amino acids on the wheat protein - gliadin - that causes the autoimmune reaction. These two portions are less similar than the wheat protein and the barley or rye protein, but much more similar than the wheat protein and rice or corn protein.

Studies have shown that approximately 10% of celiacs react to pure, lab-grown oats with the same villi-damaging autoimmune reaction as with wheat. There is no seriologic test to find out if any particular person is one of this 10%, unfortunately.

Thank you for this post - it helped me a lot as I am also new to this!

[Guest LJannise]

Been there, done that... it's a fire waiting to happen

[azmom]

I've tried the Gifts of Nature oats..made granola w/ them and it was yummy!! The whole family loved it (2 gluten-free, 2 not). I bought them at a Wild Oats store.

[Jennas-auntie]

I've heard that if you are wondering if you are part of the 10% that react, once your labs are good again, if you wish to try out oats (the noncontaminated kind) you can do so and then get retested labwise to see if your numbers go up or not. Some people who react to gluten or to oats don't show obvious signs. Maybe someone else on here will weigh in on this.

[tarnalberry]

I've heard that if you are wondering if you are part of the 10% that react, once your labs are good again, if you wish to try out oats (the noncontaminated kind) you can do so and then get retested labwise to see if your numbers go up or not. Some people who react to gluten or to oats don't show obvious signs. Maybe someone else on here will weigh in on this.

That is an option, and how they determined the issue in the first place. But it's also why I suspect the number is actually higher than 10%. The results came from those who had intestinal damage after a few weeks on daily oats. We know from other studies, and our own experience, that it can take longer than a few weeks of gluten exposure, after having been gluten free, for damage to show up on a biopsy.

If you go this route, it would be similar to a gluten challenge - you would want to eat *a lot* of oats, every day, for a number of months prior to a thorough biopsy, and realize that it might still be a delayed reaction. (There are some reports that damage has not reoccured for years, though it did end up occuring again.)

[mouth]

I'm looking at a nature valley, Oats 'n Honey Gronola Bar here.

I know there seems to be some debate about oats in general. The indredients say:

"WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL, CRISP RICE WITH SOY PROTEIN (RICE FLOUR, SOY PROTIEN CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, MALT, SALT) HONEHY, BROWN SUGAR SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT SOY LECITHIN, BAKING SODA, NATURAL FLAVOR, PEANUT FOUR, ALMOND FLOUR, PECAN FLOUR...

CONTAINS SOY, PEANUT, ALOMOND AND PECAN INGREDIENTS.

Bad...good? Any thoughts. Thanks, Jerry

Jerry,

I am very new to this, as my daughter was recently diagnosed. Acording to an article I read, this is really crazy, the FDA is sitting on the fence about oats. Outside the USA the guidelines for Celiac are different. Some countries say ok, some say no. Cereal? Believe it or not, at the moment TRIX is gluten free, I just called and bought a box for my daughter. The store I have been shopping at has alot of gluten-free foods. Adult cereal and kids. NO MALT.... If you go to a dietician, they can sometimes give you a list of stuff that are no=no's. and stuff that is ok, good to avoid.. i got that for my daughter. we take it shopping with us. Good luck..