Home Testing Kits

[Guest gillian502]

I've had so much unreliable information from companies lately, that I'd like to have an at-home testing kit for those times when the product I'm using may be suspect. Does anyone know what types of home kits are available and the approximate cost?

[Wish]

I have never personally used a gluten test kit, but another Celiac I know has and we have discussed them. The kits are manufactured by ELISA technologies and cost $80. Each kit contains materials for 5 individual tests. You can find out a lot more at the ELISA website (Open Original Shared Link).

My opinion on the test kits (and others may disagree) is that they are best for telling you which foods DO contain gluten--that is, if you get any degree of positive result, you know not to consume that food. However, negative results do not necessarily indicate that a food is safe because there is always the chance that you will be testing a candy bar/scoop of ice cream/etc. from a batch made during the shift of more careful workers...it could still be the case that there is contamination in other batches of the same product even though the one sample you tested came back negative. Of course, you can always test the same product repeatedly over the course of time and become more certain of the result, but that gets pretty pricey. This is just my opinion, though...if you think the peace of mind is worth the high cost, then go for it!

Good luck,

Wish

[Guest Sibewill]

I've tried the kits twice so far and have to agree with Wish. Reason being, that both times it came out inconclusive. By that I mean the closest reading would be no gluten, but it did not conform to any exact result. The first test was on a gluten-free pizza, and the second on Scotch (just really wishfull thinking and I figured it would make a good "control" sample). The results were practically the same visually but as I was told, one was (likely)negative and the other positive. This was told to me when I called the company and was connected to a very helpfull engineer who explained in great detail how the tests work... it made sense at the time but I certainly can't figure it out right now. Basically though, the Scotch was so high in Gluten that it "washed out" the tester. The pizza he explained was in all likelihood safe (which I'm guaranteed by the maker it is). I still have some test kits remaining but at the price and lack of defined results, I am saving them for something realllly important since there is still some risk involved as a function of my not being a lab technician who will operate these extremely sensitive test kits exactly right. They take very small samples (use a food processor to ensure it mixes well) and mix with a tiny amount of liquid which is easy to put too much in and ruin the test. So in my opinion, too much $$$ and not enough accuracy for my likes.

sorry to ramble but I'm a bit under the weather again!

[Guest gillian502]

Thanks for the replies. My plan was mostly to use them on medications to see if they have any gluten levels in them...the pharmacutical companies never seem able to guartantee it one way or another. But it sounds as if it may not be able to test meds. A little pricey for only 5 test kits, too.