| Recently,
Kinnikinnick Foods published an explanation on their blog as to
why they don't plan to use oats in their products...they explain
it very well here.
Not
long ago, the gluten-free diet consisted of "no wheat, rye,
barley or oats". Currently you will usually see recommendations
of "no wheat, rye or barley". So does this mean that oats
are now considered safe for the gluten-free diet? The answer is:
some oats are safe for some people. This is a gray area, and those
who are newly-diagnosed need more information to help prevent continued
illness.
The
first problem with oats is that, in the past, there were no oats
available that were free from cross-contamination. Currently, there
are a number of companies producing specially-grown gluten-free
oats, some of which are listed below. However, a 2008
study showed that even these "uncontaminated" oats
usually are contaminated.
Note
that the oats currently used to make commercial breakfast cereals,
such as Quaker Oats and Cheerios, are not
specially grown, and are very definitely not safe
for the gluten-free diet.t
uten-free
The
second problem with oats is that, although a number of studies have
concluded that they are safe in the GF diet, other research has
shown that some people with CD do, in fact, react to the oat protein.
Interestingly, some
varieties of oats have recently been found to be more toxic than
others, although all varieties tested (1,
2,
3)
caused some type of reaction. This variation in the level of toxicity
may account for some of the inconsistency in study results.
So,
current recommendations are that no one should try oats unless and
until they are doing well on the GF diet and all
of their symptoms have disappeared. When consuming oats,
if symptoms reappear then the oats should be discontinued. It would
be possible to have a reaction to oats with no symptoms, and the
blood tests may not be sensitive enough to detect this. For more
information, read these statements, which include numerous cautions:
Beth
Israel Deaconness Celiac Disease Center Recommendations on Oat Consumption
Consumption
of pure oats by individuals with celiac disease: A position statement
by the Canadian Celiac Association. There are important warnings
in this statement, and there are also limitations in the studies
on which it is based (Rashid).
Oats
that have been specially-grown and processed to be gluten-free are
available from these companies:
Cream
Hill Estates
Cream Hill submitted a description
of their methods for producing GF oats to the FDA.
This is a well-regarded manufacturer that has been very "transparent"
about their manufacturing and testing. Here are some test
results.
Gifts of Nature
Certified by GFCO to
contain less than 10 ppm gluten
GlutenFreeOats
An informative website; well worth reading
Certified by GFCO to
contain less than 10 ppm gluten
Only
Oats
More
references on the possible problems with consuming oats as part
of the Gluten-Free diet:
Jane
DeMarchi from the North American Miller's Association spoke at an
FDA meeting on Gluten-Free food labelling in August, 2005, explaining
the milling process and why oats obtained from these large mills
are expected to be contaminated. You can read the transcript and
see the slides of her excellent talk, "Feasibility
of Milling Gluten-Free Flours" on the FDA website.
Four
different lots of McCann's oats, a brand which was at one time thought
to be gluten-free, were tested in 2004 (Thompson).
One sample had no detectable gluten (less than 3 ppm), but the remaining
three samples showed levels of 12, 23, and 725 ppm gluten. In this
same study, Quaker Oats Old-Fashioned samples had levels of 338,
364, 971, and 1807 ppm gluten; Country Choice Old-Fashioned had
one sample with no detectable gluten, and three other samples with
131, 210, and 120 ppm gluten.
The
people who participate in this study,"The
Molecular Basis for Oat Intolerance in Patients with Celiac Disease",
were selected specifically because they believed they had reacted
to oats in the past. Some of them were shown to be truly having
damage from oats, while others in the study were not. (You can also
read a news
article about this study).
Six
potentially reactive portions of the oat gluten protein were found
in "Identification
and Analysis of Multivalent, Proteolytically Resistant Peptides
from Gluten". T cells reacted to oat gluten in a study
by Kilmartin.
CSA
has a web page devoted to
research on oats.
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