Canadian Celiac Association Press Release Draws Pushback from General Mills

I think the problem with this controversy is the great ignorance of the medical and scientific community's thinking that "gliadin has been isolated as the toxic fraction." Glutenin is also toxic, and Columbia University's Celiac Research Center has identified five more categories of wheat proteins that are toxic to celiac patients. Gliadin is paired with a carbohydrate in the endosperm of wheat, which is in the interior of the “berriesâ€. However, all that rolling around and rubbing the oats with the wheat and barley, shedding exterior proteins before they are removed, surely exposes the consumers of Cheerios to more wheat toxins than are indicated by the percentage of Gluten in the product.

I think the problem with this controversy is the great ignorance of the medical and scientific community's thinking that "gliadin has been isolated as the toxic fraction." Glutenin is also toxic, and Columbia University's Celiac Research Center has identified five more categories of wheat proteins that are toxic to celiac patients. Gliadin is paired with a carbohydrate in the endosperm of wheat, which is in the interior of the “berriesâ€. However, all that rolling around and rubbing the oats with the wheat and barley, shedding exterior proteins before they are removed, surely exposes the consumers of Cheerios to more wheat toxins than are indicated by the percentage of Gluten in the product.

It is interesting that you just cited a scientific study to try to prove a point about the "great ignorance of the medical and scientific community." Putting that aside, you may be right. It is possible that there are other toxic factors beyond gliadin, including glutenin. But we will need solid data from studies by medical researchers and scientists to know for sure. If that happens, we will doubtless look to that information to help establish some sort of standard for allowable glutenin levels. In the mean time, we need to base food standards on available science. Current science says that the vast majority of people with celiac disease can tolerate gluten levels below 20 ppm, and that those people experience gut healing and symptom relieve at those levels.