Sourdough good for coeliacs?

trentmaier
Gday everyoneI hope that I have put this in the right forum. Anyway, I have a friend of mine that is a coeliac, and I read about a week or so back (in an interview with a sourdough baker) that they are finding that some of the enzymes in sourdough can break down the toxin in gluten that coeliacs are allergic to, so it is possible that soon they will be able to eat sourdough bread. Has ANYBODY heard this around the traps, or know it to be true? I have asked a doctor mate to see if she can find out about it. I just thought it was interesting and figured that if anybody knew, it would proabably be one of the people on here, and I would like to give my friend the hope that one day she can have some of my sourdough!I vaguely recall the article/interview saying they will be able to develop a culture that will neutralize the toxin (leading me to believe it will be a certain blend of bugs and enzymes).Anyway, food for thought - and research. All the bestTrent
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Panevino 2009 February 27
Hi Trent, I read a similar thing as well. As I recall, I read that they(?) think a celiac can eat a bread with up to 25% of wheat, only if that 25% has been fermented for 24 hours in a sourdough manner. I had planned to follow this up but can't do it right now. One thing you could do is contact a local or national Celiac Foundation and see if they could steer you in the right direction. I went as far as making one call, got voicemail and then never called back. Cheers
Staffo 2012 September 18

I realise this is an old thread, but it needs a response.

Any bread or similar product with any wheat or other gluten containing grain is not safe for people who have coeliac disease.  Having said that, there is some reseearch being done on modifying wheat gluten. An Italian research group has done some work on making gluten modified (reduced/ free?) bread using specific strains of lactic acid bacteria. There are also some patents for processes using specific lactic acid bacteria to modify gluten in bread. It looks as if their aim is to make a bread that is safe for people with coeliac disease.  I am a bit intrigued by the work because as soon as you remove or degrade the gluten you also loose the structure of the bread - so why not simply work at making good gluten free sourdough using gluten free ingredients? Whatever the ourcome of that research work, it is unlikely that it could be replicated without access to a microbiologist to ensure the right mix of bacteria, and a food technologist to ensure that the gluten has been eliminated - so, in my humble opinion, it is not something to try at home!

the only safe way of making gluten free bread - yeasted or sourdough - is to begin with gluten free ingredients. I have been working on that for a while, and I have posted on sourdough.com.  You can see my posts here:

My early work:

http://sourdough.com/forum/first-attempt-gluten-free-sourdough

other exploration:

http://sourdough.com/forum/exploring-gluten-free-sourdough

work with buckwheat:

http://sourdough.com/forum/gluten-free-breads-based-buckwheat

 

I have also developed a range of yeasted GF bread - you can see some of it here:

recipesforliving.info

I am convinced that it is possible, using a range of gluten free flour, to make a wealth of gluten free breads, equally as interesting and enjoyable as those that are available with gluten flours.  

Staffo

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