Gluten content in labeled and unlabeled gluten-free food products used by patients with celiac disease.

Wajiha Mehtab, Vikas Sachdev, Alka Singh, Samagra Agarwal, Namrata Singh, Rohan Malik, Anita Malhotra, Vineet Ahuja, Govind Makharia

European journal of clinical nutrition 2021 Aug

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Gluten-free (GF) diet is the only reliable treatment for patients with celiac disease (CeD), but data on the extent of gluten contamination in GF food available in India is scanty. We evaluated gluten content in labeled, imported, and non-labeled GF food products currently available in the Indian market. Overall, 794 processed and commercially available packaged GF products (labeled GF (n = 360), imported GF (n = 80), and non-labeled/naturally GF (n = 354)) were collected from supermarkets of National Capital Region of India. Those unavailable in stores were purchased from e-commerce sites or directly from the manufacturers. Gluten level in them was determined by Ridascreen Gliadin sandwich R5 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (R-Biopharm AG, Germany). As per Codex Alimentarius and Food Safety and Standard Authority of India, "gluten free" labeled products must not contain > 20 mg/kg of gluten. Overall, 10.1% of 794 GF products including 38 (10.8%) of 360 labeled and 42 (11.8%) of 354 non-labeled/naturally GF food products had gluten content > 20 mg/kg (range: 24.43-355 and 23.2-463.8 mg/kg, respectively). None of the imported GF products had gluten more than the recommended limits. Contaminated products most commonly belonged to cereal and their products (flours, coarse grains, pasta/macaroni, snack foods) pulse flours, spices, and bakery items. A substantial proportion (10.1%) of GF food products (both labeled and non-labeled) available in India have gluten content greater than the prescribed limits of <20 mg/kg. Physicians, dietitians, support group, and patients with CeD should be made aware of this fact and regulatory bodies should ensure quality assurance. © 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited part of Springer Nature.

Citation

Wajiha Mehtab, Vikas Sachdev, Alka Singh, Samagra Agarwal, Namrata Singh, Rohan Malik, Anita Malhotra, Vineet Ahuja, Govind Makharia. Gluten content in labeled and unlabeled gluten-free food products used by patients with celiac disease. European journal of clinical nutrition. 2021 Aug;75(8):1245-1253