The following report on Dan the Baker Country Sour Bread (NOT LABELED GF) will inform you of the amount of gluten found in this product during testing.

General Product Information

Manufacturer: Dan the Baker (Toast Bar)

This report is posted to the public side of the website due to concerns that some people with celiac disease may mistakenly believe that they can eat sourdough wheat bread without harm.

This bread is not the typical product tested by Gluten Free Watchdog. It is NOT labeled gluten-free and it is made with wheat flour. This bread is a wheat-based sourdough bread made by the bakery Toast Bar in Columbus, Ohio. It was tested because the bakery website includes a page entitled "Sourdough for Celiacs" which as of April 6, 2015 states the following: "A recent study based out of Italy shows that 80% of those with doctor-confirmed celiac disease can eat sourdough bread every day and experience no adverse symptoms. In sourdough bread, the concentration of gluten is decreased by about 97% ...Eating sourdough can be a safe and healthy way to consume grains for nearly everyone, even 80% of those diagnosed with celiac disease as evidenced by the Italian study." Please click HERE for the entire statement. 

UPDATE: The webpage "Sourdough for Celiacs" was taken down on April 7, 2015 and replaced with a statement from Dan the Baker.

NOTE: The study referenced in this write-up is a 2011 study by researchers Greco et al. What the researchers actually report: When two study participants ate baked goods made using extensively hydrolyzed flour (gluten reduced 97% and containing 2,480 ppm gluten) no clinical complaints were reported BUT they developed SUBTOTAL ATROPHY of their intestinal mucosa. In other words (and not surprisingly) these products are NOT safe for people with celiac disease. The researchers write, "Two CD patients consumed 200 g of S1BG that contained ~ 2480 +/- 86 ppm of residual gluten. They had no clinical complaints during the 60 days. One showed increased antibodies and both showed increased CD3 and gamma-delta intraepithelial lymphocytes with subtotal atrophy after challenge." To read the full article please click HERE.

The products that the study researchers believe may have potential use in gluten-free diets are those that have been fully hydrolyzed (8 parts per million of gluten) through sourdough lactobacilli and fungal proteases.

.................................................

Ingredients: Water, Wheat flour, Ohio whole wheat flour, Sea salt, Wild yeast, Brown rice flour, Olive oil--trace amounts

Note: A concerned colleague notified me about this product. A colleague and subscriber to Gluten Free Watchdog purchased the bread in Ohio and shipped it to Gluten Free Watchdog in Massachusetts.