10
May
2017
25
Jan
2017
Gluten Free Watchdog Updated Position Statement on Oats
Background: Two scientific publications from PepsiCo scientists provide us with the best data to date on the state of contamination of oats sold as gluten-free in the US (1, 2). Extensive testing by PepsiCo found 1 in every 57 servings tested (0.25 g sample taken from each 45 to 50 g ground serving) to contain gluten at levels at or above 20 parts per million using the R5 ELISA R7001 assay. The scientists point out that the number of contaminated...
19
Dec
2016
Quaker researchers publish a second study highlighting the difficulties associated with testing oats for gluten contamination
Note: This is one of two companion articles published today on oats. An updated position statement on oats from Gluten Free Watchdog will be published in the near future. PepsiCo scientists recently published a second article in the scientific peer-reviewed literature on the difficulties associated with testing oats for gluten contamination. This article entitled “Kernel-based gluten contamination of gluten-free oatmeal complicates gluten assessment as it causes binary-like test outcomes” compliments their first article entitled, “Gluten-containing grains skew gluten assessment in oats...
19
Dec
2016
Controversy continues to swirl around oats & their suitability for a gluten-free diet
Note: This is one of two companion articles published today on oats. An updated position statement on oats from Gluten Free Watchdog will be published in the near future. Very long bottom line “Do oats belong in a gluten-free diet?” This was the title of the first article of mine published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. This was way back in 1997. Oats were controversial then and they are controversial now. There have been questions about: oat safety, oat avenin; different oat...
26
Oct
2016
Using the Nima to test heterogeneous samples such as oats
Please also see my initial comments on the Nima Sensor at https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/nima-portable-food-testing-device/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2GnG-3oye8
19
Oct
2016
Gluten-Free Oats Video & Handout from FNCE DIGID Breakfast 2016
Dietitians in Gluten Intolerance Diseases held a breakfast on oats at FNCE this year. This event was sponsored by GF Harvest and the featured speaker was Seaton Smith. A miller of mechanically and optically sorted oats also was invited to speak at this breakfast but they declined. As a result, information on sorted oats was provided by me. Please print the pdf of the oat handout provided to dietitians at this event before listening to the video (otherwise the video...
24
Aug
2016
Must Read Study Courtesy of Quaker on Testing Oats for Gluten
Gluten-containing grains skew gluten assessment in oats due to sample grind non-homogeneity. Fritz RD, Chen Y, Contreras V. Food Chemistry. February 2017;216:170-175. Published online ahead of print August 12, 2016. Disclosure: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ronald D. Fritz, Yumin Chen, and Veronica Contreras are salaried employees of PepsiCo Inc. or Quaker Foods and Snacks (QFS), a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., which funded this research. QFS has a commercial interest in gluten-free foods. …………………….. What follows is a summary...
26
Apr
2016
NASSCD Summary Statement on Oats
The North American Society for the Study of Celiac Disease recently released a summary statement on oats. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of NASSCD. While I provided comments via a dietitian colleague on various drafts of this statement, I am not a member of the executive council and was not directly involved in the writing of this statement. The statement can be accessed HERE. Please share your thoughts. Gluten Free Watchdog Position Statement on Oats: ...
30
Oct
2015
The gluten-free oats situation & why it is such a sticky wicket
Gluten Free Watchdog Position Statement on Oats: Gluten Free Watchdog supports the use of gluten-free oats by the celiac disease community that are produced under a robust gluten-free purity protocol.* At this time we do not in general support the use of regular commodity oats that are cleaned at the “end” of production via mechanical and/or optical sorting. We are not necessarily opposed to the use of such oats in the future if their gluten-free status can be definitively demonstrated via a rigorous...
26
Oct
2015