Dandy Blend and the cross contamination conundrum

[Guest guest]

In going back over some of the posts I missed when I was on

vacation, my interest was piqued by the claim of Dandy tea that their product

does not contain gluten, even though it is made with barley and rye. I

note that their FAQ states that

they test for gluten content, but I am concerned that their science is

faulty. Their claim is that their extraction process excludes the

gluten. They roast, grind, and leach the grains, taking only the liquid

and none of the mash. They state that gluten is soluble only in alcohol,

not water, and since they use no alcohol, the gluten remains in the mash.

After some digging, I found that, while a solution of 70%

alcohol is the best way to dissolve gliadin, it is not the only

way. According to one

source, gliadin is “somewhat soluble in pure water,” less so if

salt is added, more so if the solution is slightly acid or alkaline.

I also found this information:

As

wheat protein (gluten) is digested, some of the gliadin becomes water-soluble,

and is able to come in contact with human tissue. If the gluten was

subject to processing, such as flour grinding, cooking, bleaching,

fermentation, or hydrolysis (acid treatment), much more gliadin becomes

water-soluble.

This suggests to me that the process by which Dandy processes

the grains (roasting, grinding, and soaking) would make the gliadin more water soluble.

All this makes me wonder just how they can do this and still

find “no detectable gluten” in their product. I am

mystified. I hate to think the test is inaccurate, but I don’t

understand how they could put these grains through their process without some

gliadin coming through at least some of the time.

Before offering this product to the celiacs in my family, I

would want to get a lot more information from the manufacturer. What

information do they have that confirms that gliadin is not soluble if you roast

it, grind it, and leach it in hot water? How often do they test their

product? What processes are in place to ensure that the liquid is not

contaminated by the mash? What is their definition of “undetectable

gluten”, 20 ppm? 10 ppm? 3 ppm? Who does the tests and are they

trained in their proper use?

I think we are back to that decision: is a product that contains

wheat but tests at less than 20 ppm or lower considered gluten-free? This

is an important question, since the FDA may define gluten-free that way,

leaving celiacs hunting for products by manufacturers who use dedicated

facilities and no WBRO. This also speaks to the issue of cross

contamination. Will any company be able to test a couple of batches of

their product and call it gluten-free if they pass, no matter what they put in

it? Sounds like this is becoming more and more of a trend.

Parts per million aside, we still haven’t addressed the

question of how much gluten a celiac can safely consume. I get so

frustrated that there is no scientific way to tell if a celiac is affected by

gluten short of an endoscopy or absorption tests (blood tests do not detect

gluten exposure at minute levels; damage will be done long before it shows in

the blood). There has been very little research done to investigate this.

Remember, the more products we consume that have trace amounts

of gluten, the higher our total “gluten load” will be. We can’t

consider the effects of just one product; we have to consider the total amount

of contamination in our total food intake. We must call for better

science to determine what is safe for celiacs. Until then, I plan to keep

my family’s gluten load as small as possible. To me, this means no

products that list WBRO in their ingredients (I don’t care how careful

they are: accidents happen); no products that state “may contain wheat”

on the label, and no products produced in shared facilities unless I know that possibilities

for CC are minimal and that the manufacturer understands the seriousness of the

need to prevent it.

Pam Newbury

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of jackie_defendis

Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 5:52 PM

Subject: [ ] Dandy Blend

Does anyone know anything about Dandy Blend tea? The

packaging claims that it is gluten-free, but it contains barley and rye.

According to the company, all the gluten from barley and rye has been

eliminated in the extraction process.

Thanks.

_,___

[Guest guest]

Pam,

I totally agree with you. When we rely on complex science to protect us, we

question whether the manufacturer has done all of the processes that are

necessary. For this reason I currently avoid products that contain components

that are " gluten removed. " Things may change in the future (e.g. I've heard of a

gluten removed Italian beer made from barley), but I will need to understand how

these products are certified to be safe.

I just returned from 12 days in the UK, and it is great to see packaging and

restaurant menus that say " suitable for ceoliacs " [or in the case of some of the

packaging " unsuitable for ceoliacs due to factory processing limitations " ]. Note

regarding the gluten-removed Italian beer - I didn't spot it for sale in the UK,

but I did see GF beer.

Vic