In Focus: Gluten-Free

There is a sizable, but still decidedly minority population that can benefit in terms of feeling better by excluding gluten, entirely or mostly, from their diets. There is a population -- an order of magnitude smaller -- for which it is vital to do so, and potentially even a matter of life and death. For everyone else, going gluten-free is at best a fashion statement. Now, let's mill the details

Eating gluten doesn’t bother most consumers, but some people with celiac disease have health-threatening reactions, says Stefano Luccioli, M.D., a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allergist and immunologist. They need to know whether a food contains gluten. FDA has been working to define “gluten-free” to: (1) eliminate uncertainty about how food producers may label their products and (2) assure consumers who must avoid gluten that foods labeled “gluten-free” meet a clear standard established and enforced by FDA. FDA’s actions on Aug.Read more

Nearly three years past the 2008 deadline, the FDA is finally getting serious about defining what “gluten-free” means on food labels.Read more

It seems like everywhere you look these days someone is on a gluten-free kick. There are also a lot more gluten-free products on supermarket shelves, as well as gluten-free diets and cookbooks. Recently, my search for "gluten-free diet" in the Books section on Amazon.com returned more than 3,000 results! While an allergy to gluten - the protein found in wheat - does exist (called celiac disease), it appears that many people are trying out gluten-free eating as a way to lose weight. We have not found studies that support a gluten-free diet as a weight-loss diet.Read more

When I meet people living a gluten-free lifestyle, I always ask them why they’ve given up wheat, bulgur, rye and barley.Read more