Oats are officially a suspect food for those with gluten intolerance and Coeliac Disease

Over the years I have become suspicious about oats and haven’t included them in any gluten free exclusion diets I may have asked my clients to follow. A new study published in the journal GUT (1) has shown that there is a difference between the ‘cultivar” (cultivated varieties) of oats and that some will cause a considerable immune reaction, some will cause a slight immune reaction and some will cause no immune reaction. To some degree the study is inconclusive and further work needs to be done to find out which oats are designated as a low responder risk cereal.

1.Comino I, Real A, de Lorenzo L, Cornell H, López-Casado MA, Barro F, Lorite P, Torres MI, Cebolla A, Sousa C. Diversity in oat potential immunogenicity: basis for the selection of oat varieties with no toxicity in coeliac disease. Gut. 2011 Feb 12.