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Celiac.com 01/22/2022 - All by themselves oats are a naturally gluten-free food. However, commercial oats are often contaminated with wheat, barley or rye. It's important for people with celiac disease to make sure oat products are gluten-free. For celiacs, the best way is to choose trusted oat products that are either certified gluten-free, labeled gluten-free, or known to be gluten-free and safe. This list does not include granola, as we will cover gluten-free granola brands in another article. However, here's a list of gluten-free cereals that includes granola. Still, among the dozens of brands of oat cereals, it can be hard to find oat cereals that are labeled gluten-free. Brands of Gluten-Free Oat Cereals include: Bakery on Main All Bakery on Main Oatmeals and Granola Cereals are certified gluten-free, including: Apple Pie Oatmeal Blueberry Scone Oatmeal Bulk Organic Quick Oats Bulk Organic Rolled Oats Bulk Organic Steel Cut Oats Bulk Quick Oats Bulk Rolled Oats Bulk Steel Cut Oats Maple Multigrain Muffin Oatmeal Organic Almond & Vanilla Oatmeal Cup Organic Cranberry Apple Almond Oatmeal Cup Organic Oats & Ancient Grains Oatmeal Cup Organic Quick Oats Organic Quick Oats Organic Rolled Oats Organic Walnut Banana Oatmeal Cup Quick Oats Rolled Oats Steel Cut Oats Strawberry Shortcake Oatmeal Unsweetened Oatmeal Anthony's Anthony's makes Anthonys' Organic Rolled Oats and Anthony's Organic Whole Grain Oat Flour. Both are batch tested and verified gluten-free. Anthonys' Organic Rolled Oats Anthony's Organic Whole Grain Oat Flour Bob's Red Mill Bob's Red Mill makes a number of oat cereals that are batch tested and verified gluten-free oat cereals. They also make a number that are not labeled gluten-free. Be sure to get the gluten-free versions! Gluten Free Apple and Cinnamon Cup Gluten Free Apple Blueberry Granola Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cup Gluten Free Blueberry Hazelnut Oatmeal Cup Gluten Free Brown Sugar & Maple Oatmeal Cup Gluten Free Classic Oatmeal Cup Gluten Free Extra Thick Rolled Oats Gluten Free Honey Oat Granola Gluten Free Oat Bran Gluten Free Oat Bran Hot Cereal Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Gluten Free Organic Extra Thick Rolled Oats Gluten Free Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Gluten Free Organic Quick Cooking Rolled Oats Gluten Free Organic Rolled Oats Gluten Free Organic Steel Cut Oats Gluten Free Organic Thick Rolled Oats Gluten Free Quick Cooking Rolled Oats Gluten Free Quick Rolled Oats Gluten Free Scottish Oatmeal Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats Gluten Free Thick Rolled Oats General Mills Ever popular Cheerios is gluten-free, and widely available. General Mills uses proprietary optical sorting to ensure their oats are gluten-free to below 20ppm. Cheerios Gerber Oatmeal Cereal Gerber lists the following products as gluten-free: Gerber Probiotic Oatmeal & Banana Cereal Gerber Probiotic Oatmeal Peach Apple Cereal Quaker Quaker makes a number of products that are labeled gluten-free. They also make a number of products that are not labeled gluten-free. If you have celiac disease or gluten-intolerance, the following Quaker products are safe for you: Quaker Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats Quaker Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Quaker Gluten Free Instant Oatmeal Quaker Gluten Free Quick 1-Minute Oats Quaker Select Starts Gluten Free Instant Oatmeal Do you have a favorite gluten-free oat cereal that we have overlooked? Let us know and we'll add it to the comments section below.

Celiac.com 03/28/2023 - A food ingredient company in Regina, Canada, is walking away from gluten-free oat contracts it signed with about 30 farmers in northeastern Saskatchewan in 2022. The numbers are still just estimates, but, with the production contracts voided, it’s possible that the affected producers could lose $4 to 5 per bushel in the price of their oats. Purely Canada Foods, a division of Above Food, sent a letter to affected producers March 1. The Western Producer obtained a copy of the letter. It states that Purely Canada Foods is using “force majeure” to dissolve the contracts because the processor it had a contract with is unable to take the oats. “There were 21,000 tonnes of certified Gluten-Free oat conversion capacity… contracted for Gluten-Free processing,” the letter stated. “Unfortunately, the contractor experienced Gluten-Free and food safety certification delays, a substantial equipment failure… as well as substantial delays caused by start-up & commission issues.” Purely Canada Foods Could not Find Another Processor to Take the Oats “These failures were beyond the Buyer’s (Purely Canada’s) control,” the letter said. “Despite all efforts in finding a certified Gluten-Free oat conversion processor… there is no immediate solution.” As a result, the company sent a letter to the affected farmers in early March. “The Buyer gives you immediate notice that the Gluten-Free Supply Contract is void in respect to the purchase of the oats and storage of the same,” it says. “Please consider that the Force Majeure clause applies for the purposes of the Contract of the Buyer and conversely the Seller, and you as Seller, will be released from obligations under the Contract.” Read more at Producer.com

Celiac.com 05/06/2022 - To the newly diagnosed celiac patient, beginning a gluten free diet is often overwhelming, confusing, and sometimes, depressing. Initially it may be a relief to finally have a diagnosis. All seems easy and uncomplicated when sitting in the comfort of the doctor’s office. A visit to the store and the purchase of a few things that may be safe to eat is the time when most of us come face-to-face with the fact that life as we knew it is over. If you are lucky and do some homework, you find that gluten is hidden in almost everything. Gluten is the protein in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Or is it? Conflicting information regarding gluten abounds. Some authorities believe oats are safe for the celiac patient, and gluten is frequently being listed as including only wheat, rye, and barley. Too many people—especially the newly diagnosed—receive conflicting information. They aren’t even sure what gluten is, and then they have to contend with the added misinformation about oats. It is a difficult situation—that sometimes gets even worse. For instance, we are continually amazed by the number of people that think that a “little” gluten is okay. Unfortunately, too many doctors and dieticians tell their patients that as long as their symptoms are gone they can safely have gluten occasionally. This is just plain wrong. It goes far beyond the oats debate in the literature, and it is of concern to those of us who have maintained a gluten free diet with zero symptoms and clean blood tests for many years. But what about eating oats? According to Hogberg, et al., oats “can be accepted and tolerated by the majority of children with CD” (1) . This conclusion is based upon their finding that those subjects who consumed oats showed intestinal and serological recovery after one year of the diet. The indicators used to measure this recovery were blood tests and biopsies. The same group also reports that while 20% of the test subjects dropped out of the study, all subjects who stayed with the study showed no adverse effects from including oats in their diets. But what about the 20% who dropped out? How carefully were the symptoms of any of the subjects in this study monitored? Because these subjects were newly diagnosed, there was no basis for comparison with their previous experience and/or symptoms on a gluten-free diet. In counterpoint to the Hogberg group’s findings, a very different story is told by the research conducted by Peraaho et al. They looked at the impact of oats on the quality of life along with gastrointestinal signs and symptoms. They compared these findings to similar examinations of a control group of celiac patients who were eating a gluten-free diet that did not include oats (2) . While the quality of life did not differ between these groups, those eating oats experienced significantly more frequent diarrhea. They also experienced more severe constipation, and a small but significant increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes was revealed in their biopsies. The Peraaho group did report, in congruence with the Hogberg et al. findings, that the villous architecture did not differ between groups, and antibody levels did not increase among those eating oats. Both studies are very revealing. They show us that symptoms can sometimes be more revealing than test results, and that the serological and endoscobic evidence, without counting intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) can only provide a crude measurement of disease. While the Marsh system for evaluating biopsies for celiac disease requires counting IELs, and is widely accepted, too many pathologists and gastroenterologists continue to rely on the villous morphology alone when they rule out celiac disease. Peraaho et al. identified two important weaknesses in research that suggests oats are safe for celiac patients. First, the intestinal biopsy will miss a number of cases of celiac disease if IELs are not counted, so oats advocates should include IEL counts. Second, many celiacs are exquisitely sensitive to gluten, and their reactions are far more accurate than many supposedly objective tests (please bear in mind that some/many of us can be symptom-free while the disease progresses and gluten causes internal injuries). Thus, the level of our well-being is in our own hands and is a function of the extent to which we comply with the gluten-free diet. Further, many of us are simply not able to tolerate oats. We suggest the following approach: First, ensure that your diet is absolutely gluten free, including hidden gluten and cross-contamination. Then, if the idea of adding a grain to your diet is important to you, try oats that have not been contaminated through growing, harvesting, or processing. If you remain symptom free when eating oats, enjoy. Be aware, however, that a significant portion of celiac patients clearly react to oats, and the elevation of IELs, along with the increased bowel symptoms should suggest erring on the side of caution and avoiding oats if any signs or symptoms appear. Co-authored by and Ginny Nehring. References: 1. Hogberg L, Laurin P, FalthMagnusson K, Grant C, Grodzinsky E, Jansson G, Ascher H, Browaldh L, Hammersjo JA, Lindberg E, Myrdal U, Stenhammar L. Oats to children with newly diagnosed coeliac disease: a randomised double blind study. Gut. 2004 May;53(5):649-54. 2. Peraaho M, Kaukinen K, Mustalahti K, Vuolteenaho N, Maki M, Laippala P, Collin P. Effect of an oats-containing gluten-free diet on symptoms and quality of life in coeliac disease. A randomized study. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2004 Jan;39(1):27-31. Co-author Dangerous Grains ISBN: 1- 58333-129-8

Celiac.com 01/21/2022 - Less than a decade ago in Chicago, there was a time when thousands of residents would have claimed that the best basketball team of all time was right here, right now. In the 1990’s, the combined magic of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of that stellar Bulls team was, to a basketball fan, like nothing ever experienced in the past. But then, there are those who would argue that a different team of the past (perhaps Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, or Magic Johnson & Kareem Abdul Jabar of the Los Angeles Lakers) was the best ever. And, there are statistics, personal experience and memories of games played to validate each position—everyone was right within their own world of experience. For an individual with celiac disease (often incorrectly referred to as “an allergy to wheat and gluten products”), there are several factors to consider in determining if oats is a safe food. The questions which are commonly asked by patients with known wheat or gluten sensitivity include: Oats are not a wheat product. Are oats safe for me to eat? Can oats have gluten? My Doctor says that oats are Ok, but I’ve read conflicting reports that say oats are to be avoided. Which is true? As with ‘the greatest basketball team of all time’, the answer depends on your point of view. You can easily find doctors and researchers who will offer evidence on both sides of these questions. Here’s the latest information to help you in answering these questions for yourself. There are three factors to be addressed: Is there gluten in oats? Can oats trigger a gluten-type sensitivity reaction? Is there anything else in oats that can be offensive? Let’s consider these factors one at a time. First, is there gluten in oats? The clear and uncontested answer is no, there is no gluten in oats— and, yes, there is gluten in oats. Confused? Here’s why: gluten is the offensive prolamin (simple protein found in seeds) protein found in wheat. It is known to be one of the triggers to the symptoms of celiac disease. Avenin is the prolamin protein of oats. It has a different chemical structure than gluten and avenins have been predicted to contain only a few glutamines that can be deaminated by tissue transglutaminase, presumably making avenins less immunogenic thus substantially less offensive to the lining of the intestines than gluten(15,16). The offensive protein in oats is not gluten. So, no, there is no gluten in oats. And now to the yes answer regarding the gluten content of oats. In a recent study entitled ‘Gluten Contamination of Commercial Oat Products in the United States’, the author purchased 12 containers of rolled or steel-cut oats representing four different lots of each of three different brands between October 2003 and March 2004(14). The three brands were Quaker (processed in Chicago—selected because it is a popular brand of oatmeal in the U.S.), Country Choice (Eden Prairie, Minnesota—because it is certified to be organic) and McCann’s (Odlum Group, Nass, Ireland, because it is processed in an oats-only facility). Following the Codex limit for naturally occurring gluten-free foods, oat samples were considered gluten-free if they contained 20 parts per million (20 ppm) or less of gluten17. The results were startling. All three brands of oats had gluten contamination above 20 ppm in at least two of the four samples tested. Ranges of gluten in the four samples from the 3 different companies ranged from: McCann’s, none to 725 ppm; Country Choice, none to 210 ppm; and Quaker, 338 to 1807 ppm. Even the best of the three (Country Choice) was 10 times above the safe limit of gluten contamination, and the worst was 90 times above the limit. So, even though oats are not composed of gluten, it appears that oats contain gluten more than half the time—and the amount of gluten present is often dangerously high for someone with Celiac Disease. So, you are asking: Where does the gluten in oats come from? The author of the study wrote: “Celiac organizations across the United States continue to advise against the consumption of oats because of concerns that commercial oat products may be contaminated with wheat, barley, or rye during harvesting, transporting, milling and processing.”(18) Can Oats Trigger a Gluten-type Sensitivity Reaction? Once again, there are two answers. On one hand, if oats are contaminated with gluten at dangerously high levels more than half the time, the answer would have to be ‘yes, oats can trigger a gluten-type sensitivity reaction. Basically if you are following a strict gluten-free diet, doing very well at food selections, AND eating oats (‘because there is no gluten in oats’), you could still develop celiac disease complications. We know that celiac disease is a chronic inflammatory immune response in the intestines and other tissues due to gluten exposure(1) . Is it safe to eat oats on a gluten-free diet? Given the above information, it is likely not safe for celiac patients to eat oats or oat products. Can oats trigger a gluten-type sensitivity reaction? The second answer has to do with the composition of oats. Due to the protein in oats (avenin) having such a different chemical structure, it has been predicted to be much less offensive to the immune system making oats less immunogenic (immune system stimulating)(2,3). There have also been a number of studies that have suggested oats do not trigger the same type of immune response as gluten(4-11). However, there have been studies on the other side of the coin that identify an immune response of some type. A recent study of 39 Finnish patients randomized to eat a gluten-free diet with 50 grams of oats daily or a standard gluten-free diet for one year reported more intestinal symptoms and more gut inflammation in the group of patients eating oats(13). The researchers wanted to find out why this was happening to some celiac patients. When searching for the mechanism that was causing an oat-sensitivity reaction for some celiacs they discovered a similar-to-gluten type of immune system response in the intestines. They described this as: “We established oats-avenin-specific and - reactive intestinal T-cell lines from these three patients, as well as from two other patients who appeared to tolerate oats. The avenin-reactive T-cell lines recognized avenin peptides in the context of HLA-DQ2. These peptides have sequences rich in proline and glutamine residues closely resembling wheat gluten epitopes. Deamidation (glutamine/glutamic acid conversion) by tissue transglutaminase was involved in the avenin epitope formation.” We conclude that some celiac disease patients have avenin-reactive mucosal T-cells that can cause mucosal inflammation. Oat intolerance may be a reason for villous atrophy and inflammation in patients with celiac disease who are eating oats but otherwise are adhering to a strict gluten-free diet. Clinical follow-up of celiac disease patients eating oats is advisable.” (12) Summary Although technically there is no gluten in oats, and celiac disease is associated with gluten exposure, it is a roll of the dice for celiac patients to eat oats for two reasons: Given the frequency of contamination of oats with gluten, it is impossible to be assured of a gluten-free oat product. Some celiac patients (and as of yet it is impossible to know which ones), appear to have an immune system sensitivity reaction to oats similar to gluten. Thus the safest approach at this point may be to include elimination of oats to a gluten-free diet, allow the intestines to heal (and have that documented with a recheck endoscopic exam), then do an oat-challenge diet and regularly recheck via endoscope for any signs of intestinal damage. This is a timely process (and a nuisance for the patient), but if one wants to eat oats this may be the only way to do it safely. References: Sollid LM (2002) Coeliac disease: Dissecting a complex inflammatory disorder. Nat Rev Immunol 2: 647–655. Vader LW, de Ru A, van Der WY, Kooy YM, Benckhuijsen W, et al. (2002), Specificity of tissue transglutaminase explains cereal toxicity in celiac disease. J Exp Med 195: 643–649. Piper JL, Gray GM, Khosla C (2002) High selectivity of human tissue transglutaminase for immunoactive gliadin peptides: Implications for celiac sprue. Biochemistry 41: 386–393. Janatuinen EK, Pikkarainen PH, Kemppainen TA, Kosma VM, Jarvinen RM, et al. (1995) A comparison of diets with and without oats in adults with celiac disease. N Engl J Med 333: 1033–1037. Srinivasan U, Leonard N, Jones E, Kasarda DD, Weir DG, et al. (1996) Absence of oats toxicity in adult coeliac disease. BMJ 313: 1300–1301. Hardman CM, Garioch JJ, Leonard JN, Thomas HJ, Walker MM, et al. (1997) Absence of toxicity of oats in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. N Engl J Med 337: 1884–1887. Reunala T, Collin P, Holm K, Pikkarainen P, Miettinen A, et al. (1998) Tolerance to oats in dermatitis herpetiformis. Gut 43: 490–493. Hoffenberg EJ, Haas J, Drescher A, Barnhurst R, Osberg I, et al. (2000) A trial of oats in children with newly diagnosed celiac disease. J Pediatr 137: 361–366. Janatuinen EK, Kemppainen TA, Julkunen RJ, Kosma VM, Maki M, et al.(2002) No harm from five year ingestion of oats in coeliac disease. Gut 50:332–335. Størsrud S, Olsson M, Arvidsson LR, Nilsson LA, Nilsson O, et al. (2003),Adult coeliac patients do tolerate large amounts of oats. Eur J Clin Nutr 57:163–169. Ho¨ gberg L, Laurin P, Fa¨ lth-Magnusson K, Grant C, Grodzinsky E, et al.(2004) Oats to children with newly diagnosed coeliac disease: A randomized double blind study. Gut 53: 649–654. Helene Arentz-Hansen1, Burkhard Fleckenstein1,2, Øyvind Molberg1, Helge Scott3, Frits Koning4, Gunther Jung5, Peter Roepstorff2, Knut E. A. Lundin1,6, Ludvig M. Sollid1*, The Molecular Basis for Oat Intolerance in Patients with Celiac Disease, PLoS Medicine, http://www.plosmedicine.org, October 2004, Volume 1, Issue. Pera¨ aho M, Kaukinen K, Mustalahti K, Vuolteenaho N, Ma¨ ki M, et al. (2004) Effect of an oats-containing gluten-free diet on symptoms and quality of life in coeliac disease. A randomized study. Scand J Gastroenterol 39: 27–31. Thompson,T., Gluten Contamination of Commercial Oat Products in the United States, NEJM,Nov.4,2004,2021-22. Vader LW, de Ru A, van Der WY, Kooy YM, Benckhuijsen W, et al. (2002) Specificity of tissue transglutaminase explains cereal toxicity in celiac disease. J Exp Med 195: 643–649. Piper JL, Gray GM, Khosla C (2002) High selectivity of human tissue transglutaminase for immunoactive gliadin peptides: Implications for celiac sprue. Biochemistry 41: 386–393. Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses. Draft revised standard for gluten-free foods. CX/NFSDU 98/4 July 1998: 1-4, http://intlspectrum.diabetesjournals.o rg/cgi/content/full/15/3/197. Thompson,T. Oats and the Gluten-Free Diet, J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103,876-9.

Celiac.com 06/10/2021 - I knew immediately when the MIG Living package containing their samples arrived—the lovely smell of lavender permeated through the box, and immediately put a smile on my face. I can't think of a more wonderful scent, and MIG Living's Ritual Cleansing Bar Lavender & Colloidal Oat somehow captures an entire field's worth of fresh cut lavender scent in a single bar. Their gluten-free soap makes a wonderfully rich and foamy lather that leaves your face feeling clean, refreshed, and moisturized, not to mention smelling wonderful! It is really an outstanding bar of soap, and I can't imagine going back to what I was using before I discovered this amazing gluten-free soap. The other product I tried from MIG Living is their Premium Collagen Beauty Elixir, which is designed to nourish your skin and keep it looking younger. Their “CoVera collagen complex” contains hyaluronic acid for skin hydration, and a key proprietary mix of vitamins which will help to rejuvenate and protect your skin, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and decrease joint pain, as well as strengthen hair and nails. Both products will keep your skin feeling and looking wonderful, and both are outstanding gluten-free skin care alternatives. Visit their site for more info.

Celiac.com 05/16/2019 - Diagnosed with celiac disease when he was just two years old, Smith spent most of his life avoiding gluten, including the stray grains of wheat and rye that can contaminate otherwise gluten-free grains, like oats. Sith began sorting and rolling gluten-free oats as a high school student, armed with a loan from the FFA Parent Support Group, a tabletop mill, and a 50-pound bag of groats. He began the first year by selling to his oats to fifteen family members, who also had celiac disease. The next year, Smith reached out to a group of local residents with celiac disease. The group gathered once a month for support and potluck suppers, and became regular buyers of his gluten-free oats. That year, he sold 500 pounds of gluten-free oats. At a show in Casper, Wyoming, during his junior year, Smith met a writer from California and a doctor from New York. As word of Smith’s oats began to spread, his company, Gluten-free Harvest, began to grow. Gluten-free Harvest currently employs more than a dozen people, and the company’s mill runs 24-hour a day, four days a week. At that time, his tabletop mill could only roll 1 pound of oats in 15 minutes, and keep pace with the growing business was tough. Smith found a mill that could handle the load, but the machinery needed 150-man hours of cleaning to prevent cross contamination before the oats could then be processed quickly. gluten-free Harvest now ships gluten-free oats to Scotland, Australia, Mexico and Chile, and is exploring markets in Taiwan. Sales are mainly internet-based, though some brick and mortar stores in Wyoming stock gluten-free Harvest products. Amazon ranks the company 11th among purveyors of oatmeal. Smith currently sources conventional oats within 30 miles of Powell. He's working on nailing down the trickier supply chain for organic gluten-free oats. Look for gluten-free Harvest oats online at Glutenfreeoats.com.

Celiac.com 04/02/2019 - Anyone familiar with gluten-free bread knows the downsides. Dry structure, questionable texture, and sometimes inferior taste. Can plant proteins help to change that? Two groups in the UK, Innovate UK and Coeliac UK, are joining forces to develop gluten replacements from UK-grown crops. The Nandi Proteins-led consortium includes Genius Foods, ingredients business AB Mauri, agronomy firm Agrii, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The project will focus on three ingredients currently underused by the food industry: fava beans, rapeseed by-products, and naked oats. As part of that goal, Nandi Proteins will use its proprietary technology to create protein concentrates from the raw materials. Nandi holds patents based on the fact that proteins change when they unfold, or denature, Nandi explained in a statement. Properly controlled, the denaturation process can be used to alter and control protein functionality as an ingredient. The project is looking to turn lower cost by-products into high value ingredients that can improve the qualities of gluten-free bread. In addition to utilizing natural ingredients that are currently discarded or scarcely used, the project may help gluten-free bread manufacturers to reduce the number of additives in gluten-free breads. Once Nandi creates functional proteins, Genius Foods and AB Mauri will begin testing ingredients, and looking to produce better, more commercially viable bread formulas. The goal is better gluten-free bread, and, ideally a better foothold in the gluten-free market for the manufacturers. Success could be a win for consumers looking for better gluten-free breads. Efforts Nandi and its partners will help the UK lead the way in industrial production of innovative gluten-free ingredients, Coeliac UK chief executive Sarah Sleet told reporters. Read more at FoodNavigator.com

Celiac.com 11/22/2018 - Figuring out the best way to make sure that oats are gluten-free is an interesting and important piece of the gluten-free manufacturing puzzle. That’s partly because getting representative test samples for antibody-based testing is challenging when analyzing whole grains for gluten. Moreover, when whole grains are ground into flour for testing, confocal microscopy studies have shown that gluten tends to exist as aggregates within the starch background, making single-sample testing inaccurate and complicating the ability to arrive at an accurate average from multiple samples. In addition, whole-grain products are riskier for gluten-free consumers, because contamination is localized to specific servings, rather than being distributed throughout the product. This makes parts-per-million values less relevant for whole-grain products. Intact grains, seeds, beans, pulses, and legumes offer an alternative opportunity for gluten detection, in that contaminating gluten-containing grains (GCGs) are visible and identifiable to the trained eye or properly calibrated optical sorting equipment. A team of researchers recently set out to assess the use of visual inspection for assessing levels of gluten-containing grains in gluten-free whole oats, grains, seeds, beans, and legumes, and to determine a Gluten Free Certification Organization threshold level for the maximum number of GCGs within a kilogram of non-gluten grains sold as specially processed gluten free product. Researchers LK Allred, C Kupper, and C Quinn are affiliated with the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America, 31214 124th Ave SE, Auburn, WA 98092. In their study, they ran 180 samples containing one or two wheat, rye, or barley grains through an optical sorter at the Grain Millers, Inc. facility 30 times each. In every base, the sorter diverted the GCGs into the smaller stream of rejected material. The calculated probability of detection, or in this case probability of rejection from the oat sample for all three grain types, was 1.00, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.96–1.00.” Their study showed that a gluten grain threshold of 0.25 GCG/kg can be achieved for oats, and is, likely achievable in other cereals, beans, pulses, legumes, and seeds with naturally lower levels of GCGs. Their conclusions rest in part on data quality, and the assumption of a low false-negative rate. Their conclusions were supported by optical sorting verification done by Grain Millers, Inc., and by Discovery Seed Laboratories and Kent Agri Laboratory Ltd, which are CFIA-accredited seed testing facilities. One way to ensure that gluten levels in gluten-free flour remains below 20 ppm might be to visually examine intact grains, seeds, beans, pulses, and legumes; this process is called “hand sorting.” GCGs are generally visible and identifiable to the trained eye or properly calibrated optical sorting equipment. This potentially offers exciting possibilities for creating a system to physically spot-check batches of gluten-free oats. Basically, gluten levels below 20ppm are achievable by both hand and optical sorting. However, a properly calibrated optical sorter is much faster, and much more accurate than hand sorting. Also, as the report states, “even with well-trained personnel, hand picking for grading has shown accuracy in the range of 86–90%, and we have assumed a 14% non-detection rate with the proposed sampling plan presented.” A non-detection rate of 14% could lead to gluten levels as high as 140,000 ppm, compared with optical sorting alone. General Mills claims their optical sorting equipment achieves under 20 ppm. For companies that have access to optical sorting equipment, such as General Mills, employee performance can also be checked by running the batch of material they have accepted through the sorter to determine whether any GCGs have been missed. Employees who do not accurately detect the GCGs in these samples must be retrained and monitored to ensure accuracy. Properly calibrated optical sorting looks to be the best way to sort gluten-containing grains from large quantities of oats and other materials. Any human role in such an undertaking would largely be relegated to spot-checking and re-scanning sub-samples to confirm overall results. This study authors rather diplomatically note that their study does not serve as a validation for either the Purity Protocol or the mechanical sorting method of producing gluten-free grains, “but rather demonstrates that achieving the proposed threshold is possible under both systems.” However, the fact is that even Purity Protocol oats will have to be inspected at some point, using either optical sorting, human sorting, or a combination of both. The reality is that inspecting oats for GCGs using humans alone is both time-consuming and fraught with error. That potentially means increased production costs. In the end, a combination of optical sorting systems and humans checking each other might be the way to go. For now, studies like this one will help us narrow down the best practices and help to ensure that we take the best path toward the manufacture of gluten-free oats. Read more at the JOURNAL OF AOAC INTERNATIONAL VOL. 101, NO. 1, 2018

Celiac.com 09/25/2018 - In a patent application that could have a huge impact on the gluten-free industry, General Mills, Inc. has described its method and system for removing foreign, gluten-containing grains to establish gluten-free oats. Current FDA guidelines require all products labeled gluten-free to have a maximum gluten content of 20 parts per million (ppm). Published August 23rd, patent application No. US 20180236453 A1 details a method for producing oat grains with gluten levels below 20 ppm and, more preferably, below 10 ppm. Natural oats generally do not contain gluten, but after harvest, transport and storage, large batches of raw oats may contain small amounts of gluten-containing grains, such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale. These can sometimes occur at levels exceeding 20 ppm. The General Mills patent application describes a method of arranging mechanical oat sorting operations in series, or in both series and parallel operations. The multi-step process best includes width grading, multiple length grading steps, along with a potential de-bearding step. The resulting oats will be gluten-free to under 20 ppm, and possibly to under 10 ppm, and are suitable for the production of gluten-free oat food products, including cereals and granolas. To receive a patent, General Mills will have to prove that their process does what they say it does. A successful patent for General Mills could have a huge effect on the gluten-free oat foods industry. For one, it may allow General Mills to become a major supplier of gluten-free oats for other manufacturers. The benefits of larger scale, more economical gluten-free oat production could include more, and more readily available, gluten-free oat products, along with lower prices for both manufacturers and consumers. Stay tuned for more developments on this and related stories. Read more at Justicia.com

Celiac.com 09/13/2018 - Bob’s Red Mill finds itself under fire by two women who claim the company knowingly hides the presence of an allegedly cancer-causing weed killer in its steel cut oat and rolled oat products, and falsely advertises those products as healthy. Tamara Frankel and Natasha Paracha filed a federal class action in San Francisco, alleging that parent company Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods knows that its oat products contain or likely contain glyphosate, but fails to disclose it on the label. The women cite a recent report by the Environmental Working Group, an environmental research and advocacy group, which claimed to find traces of controversial herbicide glyphosate in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other oat-based breakfast foods. The women contend that Bob’s uses labels such as “gluten free,” “wheat free” and “purity tested,” which lead consumers to falsely believe them to be healthy. Both U.S. and European regulators have concluded that glyphosate is safe, while that World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a probable human carcinogen. Bayer subsidiary Monsanto, maker of the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup has faced numerous lawsuits over its product. A San Francisco jury recently found that exposure to Roundup caused the cancer of a school groundskeeper, and awarded him $289 million in damages. Shortly after that verdict, the Environmental Working Group released a report claiming that 31 of 45 oat-based food samples tested positive for glyphosate, and that levels exceeded safety limits of 160 parts per billion. EWG applies a more stringent standard than the 2 mg/kg/day of glyphosate standard used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the 1.1 mg per day standard used by the State of California. Frankel and Paracha are represented by Patricia Syverson of the San Diego law firm Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint. Stay tuned for more developments on this and related stories.

Celiac.com 12/18/2018 - Evidence compiled by Quaker Oats shows that 4% of the purity protocol oats the company uses to make "gluten-free" oatmeal products are contaminated with trace amounts of gluten. Overall, these batches may contain under 20 ppm gluten, and thus be considered gluten-free. But somehow, isolated kernels of wheat, barley or rye flakes were making their way into the final oatmeal products and onto store shelves. Because these kernels were rolled flat the same way as the oats, it was possible for one of these flakes to find its way into a bowl of otherwise gluten-free oats, and to render the bowl over the 20 ppm standard, meaning it is technically not gluten-free, according to FDA standard. Quaker found a solution in a stricter testing method. The testing method used by Quaker mirrors the testing method recently adopted by the CFA. Under that method, "oat groats are collected from gluten-free oat production following a robust attribute-based sampling plan then split into 75-g subsamples, and ground. R-Biopharm R5 sandwich ELISA R7001 is used for analysis of all the first 15-g portions of the ground sample. A less than 20-ppm result disqualifies the production lot, while a greater than 5 to less than 20-ppm result triggers complete analysis of the remaining 60-g of ground sample, analyzed in 15-g portions. If all five 15-g test results are less than 20 ppm, and their average is less than 10.67 ppm (since a 20-ppm contaminant in 40 g of oats would dilute to 10.67 ppm in 75-g), the lot is passed. Most oatmeal is made from rolled whole oats. That means that, even with just 4% gluten contamination, products made with whole oats, even rolled oats, can contain pockets of gluten that might render a given serving over the 20 ppm standard. Because Quaker, or their oat supplier, lacks a sorting process for eliminating or reducing gluten-contamination in its raw purity protocol oats, and because its oatmeal is minimally processed, the problem of loose individual flakes of wheat, barley or rye remains unsolved at the manufacturing level. This is true for Quaker in a way that is not true for General Mills. No matter how much Quaker mixes rolled oats, a single wayward flake of wheat, rye or barley will remain intact and eventually turn up in a serving portion. That's true, even if it's just an isolated flake. That means that Quaker must look for a solution in its supply chain. So, Quaker's approach makes sense for products made with whole oats. However, the challenges faced by Quaker in making gluten-free oatmeal are substantially different than the challenges faced by General Mills in making a product like Cheerios. That's because of differences in the processes used to make the two products. Because General Mills uses a process to sort its raw oats to below 20 ppm allowable gluten, and because it then grinds the raw oats into oat flour, there is no danger that intact flakes of wheat, rye or barley will make their way into any given serving. The flour is mixed thoroughly, and, thus, any flour from the wayward oat flake is now blended evenly into the rest of the batch. The oat flour is then mixed further with other ingredients to become the raw material for making Cheerios. So, it's extremely unlikely that Cheerios would suffer from the types of gluten "hotspots" that Quaker found in their supposedly gluten-free purity protocol oats. The process greatly increases the likelihood that any gluten would be evenly distributed into the final product, and thus be gluten-free below 20 ppm at the serving level. Essentially, the two studies by scientists at Quaker show a couple of things. First, whole oats, and products made with whole oats, even those labeled gluten-free, even those which are harvested as "purity protocol," can contain isolated pockets or "hotspots" of gluten. This may mean that these products can cause symptoms in people with celiac disease. People with celiac disease should be vigilant about these products. Trust your gut and eat accordingly. Second, the data gathered, and the conclusions reached, by the Quaker scientists regarding Quaker's efforts to produce gluten-free oatmeal, have little or no connection to General Mills and the process used to make Cheerios. It would be a mistake to project Quaker's challenges onto General Mills. For its part, it seems that General Mills has actually solved the challenges of removing wheat, rye and barley from oats to reach levels below 20 ppm, and to manufacture products that reflect that gluten-free status. General Mills has solved the challenge at the manufacturing level in a way Quaker has not. For all its refined testing procedures, Quaker is still reliant on its suppliers to deliver gluten-free oats. Somewhere, somehow the problem of quantifying the gluten content of raw oats and rendering that level to be within gluten-free standards still has to be solved. Quaker is relying on oat growers and suppliers to solve the problem, to develop a way to quantify and reduce the gluten contamination levels of raw "purity protocol" oats. Perhaps Quaker might benefit from optical sorting technology, or other processes that allow them to exert more control over their finished product at the manufacturing level? Celiac.com is not alone in saying that optically sorted oats likely safe. That view is also held by the Gluten Intolerance Group. Read articles on the original studies by scientists at Quaker Oats at Food Chemistry, and the International Journal of Food Science Technology. Sources: Food Chemistry. Volume 240, 1 February 2018, Pages 391-395 Int J Food Sci Technol, 52: 359–365. DOI: 10.1111/ijfs.13288 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijfs.13288/full General Mills Describes the Success of its Gluten Detection System

Celiac.com 08/17/2017 - Anyone who knows their oats will tell you Nairn's is a familiar name in the industry. The iconic Scottish grocery brand began making that name as Nairn's Oatcakes in 1896, when John and Sarah Nairn set up a village bakery in Strathaven, Lanarkshire. More than 120 years later, it has grown from cottage industry to large-scale production, with about 150 workers, and revenues in excess of £27 million this past year. But consumer tastes, and challenges in production, retail and marketing all press the firm to adjust operations to keep pace, according to managing director Martyn Gray. Gray says that, as business has grown, the company has "had to look at specialists in each department because, it's not just a small family business now, we are a good medium-sized business that needs to adapt to the markets that we're now in." In addition to its core oatcakes and biscuits, the firm also sells products under the Simmers header, including Abernethy and Butter Biscuits, with an additional gluten-free range providing a key growth driver. Nairn's has said it is in the process of investing £6m in a new gluten-free manufacturing operation after the existing one proved unable to meet growing demand. However, with manufacturing becoming increasingly automated, the company saw a notable reduction in both permanent and temporary staff. In addition to being the UK's top oatcake producer, Edinburgh-based Nairn's, has become the UK's second-largest gluten-free producer according to Mintel, having entered the sector in 2010 from what Gray calls a "standing start." Gray says the new gluten-free facility will meet demand and "bring a pipeline of new products currently in development to market. In turn, this will protect and enhance the sustainability of the entire business." Gray admits that such expansion is a double-edged sword, offering both the chance to accelerate revenues, but with other players keen to take a cut themselves. "The market is very, very competitive," he says, but sees its long-term viability as highly positive. Nairn's also said the UK gluten-free market was worth nearly £500 million and was expected to see growth of more than 40 per cent in coming years. Much of that growth will be driven by gluten-free oat products. Read more at: Scottsman.com

Celiac.com 05/12/2017 - The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) is an organization that certifies gluten-free products and food services. The GIG's latest definition and requirements for the product purity protocol was published by AACC International. The purity protocol defines the way of growing, harvesting and processing oats to keep them safe from gluten contamination, GIG's CEO, Cynthia Kupper, said. Until now, the term lacked a uniform definition, allowing companies who used it a degree of wiggle room. Under the new standard, companies will now have to provide documentation that prove the processes they follow are based on the newly standardized definition in order to use the claim 'purity protocol oats,' said Kupper. "Given the continuing growth of the market for gluten-free products, it is essential that terms like 'purity protocol' be defined for both food manufacturers and consumers," she added. Farmers collect higher fees for growing and managing oats under purity protocol conditions, and those higher prices usually get passed to consumers. Currently, the gluten-free products most commonly contaminated by wheat are granola and cookies that contain oats, Kupper told Bakery and Snacks. In addition to providing more confidence for consumers, the new protocol could lead to a price decrease, partly due to an expected increase in demand for products made with pure oats. That demand is partly driven by added consumer confidence in purity protocol products. In addition to tightening the purity protocols for oats, GIG plans to further standardize gluten-free screening for other grains, including rice, quinoa and other grains, according to the organization. Keep an eye on purity protocol oats to see if the predictions of lower prices, higher consumer confidence and safer oats hold true, and if so, whether those protocols can be applied to grains like rice and quinoa. Read more at BakeryandSnacks.com.

Celiac.com 05/01/2017 - To avoid symptoms, and promote full gut healing, people with celiac disease should follow a strict gluten-free diet. Oats might increase the nutritional value of a gluten-free diet, but their inclusion for people with celiac disease remains controversial, and data have been conflicting. A team of researchers recently set out to determine the safety of adding oats to a gluten-free diet for patients with celiac disease. The research team included María Inés Pinto-Sánchez, Natalia Causada-Calo, Premysl Bercik, Alexander C. Ford, Joseph A. Murray, David Armstrong, Carol Semrad, Sonia S. Kupfer, Armin Alaedini, Paul Moayyedi, Daniel A. Leffler, and Elena F. Verdú. They are variously affiliated with the Department of Medicine, Farncombe Family Digestive Research Institute, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Leeds Gastroenterology Institute, St. James's University Hospital in Leeds, UK, the Leeds Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at the University of Leeds in Leeds, UK, the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester in Minnesota, US, the Celiac Disease Center at University of Chicago Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, US, the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, New York City, New York, US, and the Division of Gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, US. For their systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical and observational studies, the team searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases for clinical trials and observational studies on the effects of including oats in gluten-free diet of celiac patients. The studies reported patient symptoms, serology test results, and histologic assessments. The team used the GRADE approach to assess the evidence. Out of 433 total studies, the team found 28 that met their criteria for analysis. Of these, 6 were randomized and 2 were not-randomized controlled trials comprising a total of 661 patients. The remaining studies were observational. All randomized controlled trials used pure, uncontaminated oats. Their results showed that celiac patients who consumed oats for 12 months experienced no change in symptoms, histologic scores, intraepithelial lymphocyte counts, or serologic test results. To provide a more authoritative conclusion, they call for clinical double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trials, using commonly available oats sourced from different regions. Source: Gastroenterology