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Celiac.com 07/27/2010 - Many businesses contact us here at Celiac.com, wanting to know how to start a gluten-free business. There are many important things to consider before you open your gluten-free business to celiac and gluten intolerant customers. The following information is intended to help those looking to comply with celiac standards of gluten-free food. Start-Up: To begin, it is important to take take inventory of celiac contamination requirements. Will your gluten-free business also sell gluten-containing foods? If so, cross contamination will be an issue. If your company will be solely a gluten-free accommodating business, it will make your challenges fewer, but there are other important factors to consider such as contamination, suppliers and certifications. Before you begin your journey into providing gluten-free products, it is important to think like a celiac. Contamination & Cross-Contamination: Cross-contamination occurs when a gluten-free product comes into contact with other gluten based products. Cross contamination can occur in a variety of ways, but it usually begins where food is prepared and packaged, such as with the supplier or the manufacturer. However, cross-contamination can occur from other sources as well. If you plan to sell gluten containing pizza and gluten-free pizza, for example, then you will have an entirely new set of concerns. If you make the pizza dough in-house, there is a very good chance that gluten flour will permeate in the air for hours after using, coating your surfaces and creating a health hazard for the gluten-free folks. And if you bake the gluten and non-gluten pizza's in the same oven, then you will also need to take that into consideration, as that is also a source of cross-contamination and can render your gluten-free pizza inedible for sensitive celiacs. If your gluten-free food is stored in the same place as the gluten-containing food, you may have also a health hazard on your hands. Basically, it's a good rule of thumb to follow the celiac guidelines set for keeping a gluten-free kitchen. There are many considerations to take into account when supplying gluten-free food and while keeping a pristine business will be your best friend, sometimes even that isn't enough. Suppliers: Suppliers are a very important factor when starting a gluten-free business. It is important to research the product sources before using an ingredient source. If an ingredient source is contaminated by gluten, then your products could also be contaminated by gluten. So if you are looking to buy gluten-free rice flour for example, the reliability of your rice flour to be gluten-free will depend greatly on your supplier. It is important to carefully research the product supplier before using them. There is nothing worse than buying large quantities of food labeled “gluten-free” that actually contain gluten. Remember, it is up to a product's manufacturer to guarantee that their products are gluten-free. They must research their ingredient suppliers, and follow-up with them periodically, as sources and ingredients can change at anytime without notice. Gluten-Free Certification: If you plan to operate a gluten-free business then getting your products certified gluten-free is the best way to go. Not all gluten-free certifications are created equal. There are various gluten-free labels ranging from legitimate to not so legitimate, so it is important to research the most reliable, and best gluten-free label for your products. Getting your product 'gluten-free' certified will put your consumers at ease and increase your sales. It will also put you at ease knowing that you are providing the best gluten-free product you possibly can.

Celiac.com 04/19/2012 - A team of researchers examined the effect of corn, rice and amaranth gluten-free sourdoughs on the release of nitric oxide (NO) and synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines by duodenal mucosa biopsies of eight celiac disease patients. The research team included Maria Calasso, Olimpia Vincentini, Francesco Valitutti, Cristina Felli, Marco Gobbetti and Raffaella Di Cagno. The team used select lactic acid bacteria as starters for making corn, rice and amaranth sourdoughs. From these gluten-free sourdough matrices, they made chemically acidified doughs, without bacterial starters, and doughs started with baker’s yeast alone. They produced pepsin-trypsin (PT) digests from all sourdoughs and doughs, and used the results to the measure the recovery of biopsy specimens from eight celiac disease patients at diagnosis. They also measured the release of NO and the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-γ (IFN-γ). They found that lactic acid bacteria acidified and grew well (ca. log 9.0 CFU/g) during fermentation, showing strong proteolysis on all gluten-free samples. They also found that duodenal biopsy specimens still released NO and IFN-γ when subjected to treatments with basal medium (control), PT-digest from chemically acidified doughs and PT-digest from doughs fermented with baker’s yeast alone. In fact, in every case, biopsy specimens treated with PT-digests from all gluten-free matrices with sourdough fermentation substantially reduced NO release and IFN-γ synthesis. From their results, the team concludes that sourdough fermentation might offer an easy and effective way to speed recovery from intestinal inflammation of celiac patients beginning a gluten-free diet. Source: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUTRITION. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-012-0303-y