I happened to notice an article in the New England Journal of Medicine they receive here in the office where I work. I thought it would add something to the earlier posted discussion about those with celiac disease and oat consumption.

It is entitled:

Gluten Contamination of Commercial Oat Products in the United States.

The researchers tested multiple lots (4 each) of oats from McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oats (processed in an oats-only facility), Country Choice Old Fashioned Oats (certified organic) and Quaker Old Fashioned Oats. They were tested for contamination with gluten form wheat, barley and rye.

Oat samples were considered gluten-free if they contained 20 ppm or less of gluten.

Results:

McCann’s: Below Level of Detection (BLD; less than 3 ppm) to 725 ppm.
Country Choice: BLD to 210 ppm
Quaker: 338 to 1807 ppm.

None of these brands of oats were found to be gluten-free on a consistent basis.

www.nejm.org November 4, 2004

Maybe I just won't worry about try them. ;-)
Too bad I can't grow my own. (I'm in an apartment, so it _really_ isn't an option.)

I was at the celiac conference at Stanford last month and it appears there is some research that shows it is ok to eat oats. I am so terrified of being ill that I am afraid to try it myself. Has anyone tried to eat oats? If you have tried it would it also include eating hot cereal?

I think some enterprising company needs to start a contaminant-free oat growing farm & manufacturing plant. Can't they rotate the crops with other gluten-free grains? Obviously, I have no idea, but I'm sure there'd be a market for gluten-free oats!

I tried eating oats and got very sick. I am of the mind now that I will let someone else try these things out. From what I understand if the oats are made in the U.S. they are not gluten free.

Hi,

both my husband and I are on a gluten-free diet. I can eat McCann's Oats and I do not have a reaction. However, my husband who is much less sensitive than myself as a rule, cannot eat McCann's oats.

Go figure.

I just don't feel it's worth the risk. If I can eat without wheat, rye, barley, malt, and all those foods they are found in, it's not too hard to eliminate oats, also. I don't think it's worth it because the chances of contamination are too great.