Persistent Barriers of the Gluten-Free Basic Food Basket: Availability, Cost, and Nutritional Composition Assessment.

Gluten-related disorders are treated with a gluten-free diet. The "basic food basket" (BFB) consists of a list of basic foods consumed by low-income groups in society, including those lowest-cost versions within each food category. To evaluate the cost, availability, and nutritional quality of the BFB and gluten-free BFB (GF-BFB), foods were photographed, registering their cost, availability, and nutritional characteristics, in high quality and mid-range supermarkets, wholesalers, health shops, and corner shops, matching each regular BFB product with a gluten-free equivalent. Of the 1177 potential products, the selection of lowest-cost foods yielded 55 and 47 products (BFB and GF-BFB, respectively). Breads/cereals and drinks showed the highest differences (279% and 146%, respectively) while meats and sausages showed the lowest ones (18.6%). The GF-BFB cost represents 30.1% of the minimum wage, which covers the cost of 5.2 and 3.3 of the BFB and GF-BFB per month, respectively. Availability ranged between 22.7 and 42.4%. Lower availability was associated with poorer nutritional quality in the GF-BFB, which provides 5% less energy, 26% more fat, and 25% less protein than the BFB. Only 47% of gluten-free products declared their "gluten-free" condition. The results strongly suggest that the GF-BFB must be redesigned to be both gluten-free and nutritionally adequate.

Commercial oats in gluten-free diet: A persistent risk for celiac patients.

Background: Gluten-free diet is the treatment of celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders and excludes wheat, rye, and barley, while oats inclusion/exclusion has long been a matter of debate. A logo or catchphrase indicating the gluten-free condition in a product is all the consumer relies on to accept the product as suitable for his/her treatment. The oat-based gluten-free products represents a small market, which may have changed, and become more limited during COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To assess gluten contamination in all labeled oat-based gluten-free local and imported products available in the market, comparing them to matched regular gluten containing counterparts. As a secondary objective, unconventional flours available in the same sale points were also assessed. Results: The search yielded 25 gluten-free labeled oat flours, rolled, and instant cereals, which were compared to 27 regular gluten containing equivalents. Gluten content was above the local (5 ppm) and the Codex Alimentarius cutoff (20 ppm) in 40 and 36% of the gluten-free labeled products, respectively. When all positive products were analyzed together, there were no differences in gluten content between labeled and unlabeled products. Locally produced products were more expensive, while rolled/instant oats were less contaminated than flours (p = 0.01). Precautionary labels advising presence of gluten as allergen was omitted in 37.0% of regular products. Only 33.3% of unconventional flours obtained from open markets and sold in bulk, were gluten contaminated. Conclusion: Oat-based gluten-free products are currently highly contaminated. It is urgent to regulate them and implement protocols that allow safe consumption of these products.

La dieta sin gluten y los alimentos libres de gluten / Gluten-free diet and gluten-free foods

The gluten-free foods global market has significantly grown during the last decade. Gluten-free diet represents the treatment for celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy Another group of persons that follows gluten-free diet has emerged, perceiving this diet as healthier feeding habit. It is especially this latter group that has increased to such an extent that they modified the market of gluten-free foods, improving availability of these products. However, because their demands and requirements are different, gluten content control of many of the currently existing local gluten-free foods is unsatisfactory We present the information available on these issues, emphasizing the few local data available, which refer to school-age snacks and the "Basic Food Basket", with and without gluten. Local studies show that gluten-free snacks for school-age children and the gluten-free Basic Food Basket are less available, their cost is higher and less than 8% meet FAO/WHO nutritional recommendations.

El mercado global de los productos sin gluten ha tenido un aumento sin precedente en la última década. La dieta sin gluten constituye el tratamiento de la enfermedad celíaca, la sensibilidad no-celíaca al gluten y de la alergia al trigo. Recientemente ha aparecido otro grupo de personas que elimina el gluten por considerarlo una opción de alimentación más saludable. Es especialmente este último grupo que ha logrado mejorar el mercado de alimentos sin gluten, pero sus requerimientos son distintos, por lo que parte del aumento del mercado ha sido en base de productos sin control adecuado de su contenido de gluten. Analizamos la información existente, poniendo énfasis en los datos nacionales recientemente obtenidos acerca de las colaciones escolares y la Canasta Básica Familiar sin gluten. En ambos casos la disponibilidad de productos equivalentes sin gluten es menor, el costo tres o más veces mayor y menos del 8% de ellos cumplen las recomendaciones nutricionales de la FAO/OMS.

Mapping climate change vulnerabilities to infectious diseases in Europe.

BACKGROUND: The incidence, outbreak frequency, and distribution of many infectious diseases are generally expected to change as a consequence of climate change, yet there is limited regional information available to guide decision making. OBJECTIVE: We surveyed government officials designated as Competent Bodies for Scientific Advice concerning infectious diseases to examine the degree to which they are concerned about potential effects of climate change on infectious diseases, as well as their perceptions of institutional capacities in their respective countries. METHODS: In 2007 and 2009/2010, national infectious disease experts from 30 European Economic Area countries were surveyed about recent and projected infectious disease patterns in relation to climate change in their countries and the national capacity to cope with them. RESULTS: A large majority of respondents agreed that climate change would affect vector-borne (86% of country representatives), food-borne (70%), water-borne (68%), and rodent-borne (68%) diseases in their countries. In addition, most indicated that institutional improvements are needed for ongoing surveillance programs (83%), collaboration with the veterinary sector (69%), management of animal disease outbreaks (66%), national monitoring and control of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (64%), health services during an infectious disease outbreak (61%), and diagnostic support during an epidemic (54%). CONCLUSIONS: Expert responses were generally consistent with the peer-reviewed literature regarding the relationship between climate change and vector- and water-borne diseases, but were less so for food-borne diseases. Shortcomings in institutional capacity to manage climate change vulnerability, identified in this assessment, should be addressed in impact, vulnerability, and adaptation assessments.