Is Quaker Oatmeal Gluten Free

[pokey449]

Ive been on a low FODMAP and gluten free diet since I was diagnosed with SIBO this past summer. As part of my diet I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast. Oats dont contain gluten but it has come to my attention oatmeal might possible be contaminated with gluten since it may be processed by the same equipment at Quaker that processes wheat products. I recently had an endoscopy with biopsy and they found "mildly blunted villi" in my duodenum. My GI doc wants me to have a blood test to see if it shows celiac but says I have to be on a gluten diet for some time for the test to be accurate. Such as eating a slice of bread a day for several weeks. I really don't want to have to lose the progress I have made thus far if I don't have to.  I'm wondering if that's even necessary if the oatmeal I have been eating has gluten in it. Maybe I'm not on a gluten free diet as I thought I was?????

[Scott Adams]

I don't know for sure about Quaker oats, but I do not believe that they are using the same optical sorting technology that General Mills is using, and that they must therefore be sourcing their oats from farmers who don't grow wheat. 

Keep in mind that ~10% of celiac also have an intolerance to the protein (Avenin) in oats, and there are other things that can cause blunted villi (we're doing an article on this which will appear on this site next week).

If I were you I'd eliminate all oats, and since it sounds like you are averse to a gluten challenge and fine with staying on a gluten-free diet for life, see if this change works for you. Unfortunately you may not be able to get insurance to pay for a follow up biopsy without a formal diagnosis, so you may never know for sure if this change works.

[pokey449]

I switched to Bobs Red Mills Gluten Free oatmeal to see if that helps. 
Also wondering if I go gluten free and stay that way for a while and then do a gluten challenge how long would it take to exhibit symptoms and then reverse them by going back to gluten free diet. In other words would it be short term pain to determine if I’m truly gluten sensitive. 

[Scott Adams]

Quaker I believe has "gluten-free" on their label, so I do not believe that Bob's would be any different with regard to possible contamination issues. If you have a sensitivity to oats it would also not make a difference what brand you ate. Have you considered Quinoa or other grains?

[raspberryfirecracker]

On 2/4/2021 at 12:01 PM, Scott Adams said:

Keep in mind that ~10% of celiac also have an intolerance to the protein (Avenin) in oats

Ahhhhh! So that's it! I'm going to mention this in all my anti-oat replies 😂 Thank you, somehow knowing they've identified "the thing" in oats that makes some of us with celiac disease ill just helps me feel less bonkers. Scott you should do a post on the research that showed some species of quinoa cause reactivity in vitro (cells from celiac patients were put with the proteins) because I unfortunately react to quinoa, too, saponins minimised or not, and I have the feeling they're going to confirm it in vivo too if all the fellow can't-eat-quinoa people on this forum are anything to go by 😬

[Scott Adams]

Do you have a link to this research, as quinoa is considered gluten-free and safe for celiacs. Of course celiacs may have other food intolerances.

[raspberryfirecracker]

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22760575/

Variable activation of immune response by quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) prolamins in celiac disease

Victor F Zevallos et al. Am J Clin Nutr.2012 Aug.

Quote

Background: Celiac disease is an enteropathy triggered by dietary gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye. The current treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. Quinoa is a highly nutritive plant from the Andes, with low concentrations of prolamins, that has been recommended as part of a gluten-free diet; however, few experimental data support this recommendation.

Objective: We aimed to determine the amount of celiac-toxic prolamin epitopes in quinoa cultivars from different regions of the Andes and the ability of these epitopes to activate immune responses in patients with celiac disease.

Design: The concentration of celiac-toxic epitopes was measured by using murine monoclonal antibodies against gliadin and high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits. Immune response was assessed by proliferation assays of celiac small intestinal T cells/interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and production of IFN-γ/IL-15 after organ culture of celiac duodenal biopsy samples.

Results: Fifteen quinoa cultivars were tested: 4 cultivars had quantifiable concentrations of celiac-toxic epitopes, but they were below the maximum permitted for a gluten-free food. Cultivars Ayacuchana and Pasankalla stimulated T cell lines at levels similar to those for gliadin and caused secretion of cytokines from cultured biopsy samples at levels comparable with those for gliadin.

Conclusions: Most quinoa cultivars do not possess quantifiable amounts of celiac-toxic epitopes. However, 2 cultivars had celiac-toxic epitopes that could activate the adaptive and innate immune responses in some patients with celiac disease. These findings require further investigation in the form of in vivo studies, because quinoa is an important source of nutrients for patients with celiac disease.

 

[Scott Adams]

This is interesting, but would not be enough to make me exclude quinoa in my diet, as I just don't eat it often enough to be concerned, plus I've never had a negative reaction to it. However, anyone who is eating lots of quinoa should take note. It would be interesting to find out how widespread the 2 toxic strains are in the food supply.