LINDSAY J. GUERDRUM (1), Charles W. Bamforth (1)
(1) Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA
About 1% of the Western population suffers from celiac disease,
making it one of the largest food sensitivities in the world. celiac
disease is an inherited immune-mediated enteropathy that damages the
small intestine, thereby interfering with nutrient absorption upon
consumption of gluten. Patients with celiac disease must abide by a
strict gluten-free diet void of wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats.
Clinical sensitivity toward gluten differs considerably among patients
but the current Codex Alimentarius standard for a food to be labeled as
gluten-free is no more than 20 ppm gluten. As most beers are brewed from
barley- or wheat-based grists, it has long been inferred that they are
not suitable for people suffering from Celiac disease. However the
veracity of this conclusion has been questioned, bearing in mind the
considerable amount of protein modification and removal that occurs
during malting and brewing. Review of the available methodology
concluded that the most reliable procedure that ensures quantification
of all the relevant proteinaceous material (including degradation
products) is the so-called competitive R5 ELISA method. This method was
used to assess the levels of gliadin in commercially available beers
spanning the range of grist material. Gliadin levels ranged from <3
mg/L for gluten-free beers to 145.8 mg/L for filtered American pale
wheat beers. With regards to the Codex Alimentarius standard, 10 of the
28 beers tested were within the guidelines. Many well-known brands in
the United States have very low levels of detectable gliadin. The key
brewing factors that impact gliadin levels are presented.
Lindsay Guerdrum received a B.S. degree in biochemistry from the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She is currently in her second
year as a food science and technology master’s student at the University
of California, Davis. During the summer of 2010 she worked as an intern
for Anheuser-Busch InBev in Fairfield, CA.
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