7 replies to this topic

[S Maddux]

I received a pallet of Rolled oats today. There was a paper under the pallet wrap that said "ALLERGEN WHEAT"

The spec for this raw material says the following;
Ingerdient: 100% Rolled Oats
Allergen: Trace amounts of wheat

Should this product be considered an allergen? Thank you for your help.

[Charles.C]

I received a pallet of Rolled oats today. There was a paper under the pallet wrap that said "ALLERGEN WHEAT"

The spec for this raw material says the following;
Ingerdient: 100% Rolled Oats
Allergen: Trace amounts of wheat

Should this product be considered an allergen? Thank you for your help.

Dear S.Maddux,

Yes. Because wheat is considered to be a food allergen (more precisely, constituents of wheat can cause allergenic reactions in some (vulnerable) consumers, eg see link below.)
http://www.webmd.com...e/wheat-allergy

The general risk situation can be quite complex. For some experts, "pure" oats are also considered a potential risk although not considered due to a specific allergenic-type reaction.
eg http://www.allergy-d...uten-free-oats/
http://www.coeliac.o...luten-free-diet
but then again, coming back to allergens -
http://www.celiaccen...94/vobid--7355/

Rgds / Charles.C

PS - the statement of 100% oats content / trace amounts of wheat also seems somewhat debatable ??.

[Lexter Cruz]

Dear Maduxx,
Yes gluten to be considered as food allergen. Gluten is the term for a protein mixture found in cereals, notably wheat, rye and barley, which contains glutelins and prolamins in approximatively equal quantities. Both fractions, glutelins and prolamins, can be distinguished by their different solubility in aqueous ethanol. The ethanol-soluble prolamins of wheat, barley, and rye are called gliadins, hordeins, and secalins, respectively. These proteins account for coeliac disease (CD), but are also major allergens in wheat allergy.

Let me share you, our reference document about gluten its food safety information. send me your e-mail
thanks,
Factory Hygienist

Edited by Charles.C, 08 May 2012 - 08:14 AM.
email address removed

[garrygh]

Dear S.Maddux,

Yes. Because wheat is considered to be a food allergen (more precisely, constituents of wheat can cause allergenic reactions in some (vulnerable) consumers, eg see link below.)
http://www.webmd.com...e/wheat-allergy

The general risk situation can be quite complex. For some experts, "pure" oats are also considered a potential risk although not considered due to a specific allergenic-type reaction.
eg http://www.allergy-d...uten-free-oats/
http://www.coeliac.o...luten-free-diet
but then again, coming back to allergens -
http://www.celiaccen...94/vobid--7355/

Rgds / Charles.C

PS - the statement of 100% oats content / trace amounts of wheat also seems somewhat debatable ??.

Thank you for this very helpful info.

[Ian R]

Hi
yes - as delivered you will need to consider the oats as an allergen.

Oats themselves are generally not considered to be allergenic.
There is a quite a bit of literature on this.

Most plants that process oats also process other cereals, invariably wheat.
Due the complexity in cleaning the processing plant the suppliers indicate the possible presence of wheat/gluten as a cross contaminant.
Hence the label on your pallet.

The statement of 100% Rolled Oats, trace amounts of wheat is perfectly normal for this type of product and process.

Essentially you have two options
1. Treat the rolled oats as allergenic
2. Find an alternative supplier who only processes oats and therefore will guarantee a product with no cross contamination.

regards

[Katja]

Hi
yes - as delivered you will need to consider the oats as an allergen.

Oats themselves are generally not considered to be allergenic.
There is a quite a bit of literature on this.

Most plants that process oats also process other cereals, invariably wheat.
Due the complexity in cleaning the processing plant the suppliers indicate the possible presence of wheat/gluten as a cross contaminant.
Hence the label on your pallet.

The statement of 100% Rolled Oats, trace amounts of wheat is perfectly normal for this type of product and process.

Essentially you have two options
1. Treat the rolled oats as allergenic
2. Find an alternative supplier who only processes oats and therefore will guarantee a product with no cross contamination.

regards

I was going to say exactly what Ian just said, that it isn't the oats that is the allergen but the possibility of other allergenic cereals mixed in with the oats from neighboring fields that are allergens. I just attended the 7th workshop on food allergen methodologies where one lab (ROMER LABS) discussed testing several variants of oats from different seed supply companies worldwide and they found that the amount of gluten depended on the variant. It was unclear whether there was a possibility of seed contamination or if it was the oat variant themselves which had the gluten but as this is the first time I have heard of this i am inclined to believe it is actually a contamination of the seed. It was interesting however. Seed from spain was off the chart in amounts of gluten found whereas some literally had trace amounts...

[pices]

I believe that yes it should be treated as an allergen. There is still TRACE amounts..

I received a pallet of Rolled oats today. There was a paper under the pallet wrap that said "ALLERGEN WHEAT"

The spec for this raw material says the following;
Ingerdient: 100% Rolled Oats
Allergen: Trace amounts of wheat

Should this product be considered an allergen? Thank you for your help.

[Charles.C]

Dear All,

Just to enlarge my previous post and also re-emphasise how complex (and currently AFAIK still, scientifically, fully unresolved) the oats / allergy issue is, I hv added a few more links which seem to contain knowledge updated to at least 2011. This does not prove they are right of course however I noticed that some of the older links which still exist on the web may simply be obsolete and others which attempt to simplify the problem may well end up being misleading.

The difficulty is that meaningful discussions on this topic rapidly get highly technical (way over my non-biological background anyway). The wiki articles (1-3) below (sadly) demonstrate the degree of conflict of opinion in this area and also the variation in, for example, labelling requirements with location (especially see the 3rd link). Certainly interesting to know that as per Wiki, “gluten” has GRAS status in USA (eg http://www.accessdat...cfm?fr=184.1322 ).

The 4th link is a mainly (2011) non-technical article which gives a seemingly straightforward exposition but then carefully pulls out the caveats at the end. The attached comments further demonstrate the range of divided opinions, and also include some more interesting links (eg http://www.gluten-fr...luten-free.html ).

1. http://en.wikipedia....Oat_sensitivity

2. http://en.wikipedia....oat_controversy

3. http://en.wikipedia....luten-free_diet

4. http://www.thekitchn...oats-glu-137074

Rgds / Charles.C