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If you're gluten-free or just trying to eat less carbs, this recipe is perfect.
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About a year ago, Jessica Mahar, who had been diagnosed with celiac disease around 2005, became ill at a local restaurant because the menu indicated that the dish contained gluten-free brown rice, but was in fact served with farro containing gluten.

Even though a restaurant menu says that a product is gluten-free, new research indicates that there is a good chance that gluten will end up on your plate. Thirty-two percent of restaurant foods labeled gluten-free contain gluten, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The consumption of gluten, a protein found in some cereals, is dangerous for some people, while for other people with gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity, this results in a series of painful and embarrassing consequences. Symptoms include abdominal bloating, chronic diarrhea or constipation, vomiting, fatigue, and gas.

"You always take risks and at the same time, many restaurants are trying to meet the food needs of all types," said Marhar, one of the leaders of a non-profit organization. "I'm not scared, but … the simple ingredients are easier to follow."

The researchers also found:

  • The worst offenders were pizza and pasta, with gluten being present in 53.2% of pizza samples and 50.8% of pasta tested.
  • The detection rate was higher at dinner, 34%, than at breakfast, 27.2%.
  • Gluten-free or GF-labeled restaurant foods were less likely to have a positive gluten test result in the western United States than in the north-east.
  • Restaurants identified as fast serving (no table service, better quality food than traditional fast food restaurants) and casual (serving at the table) had lower detection rates than fast food restaurants .

Pizza (Photo: Romualdo Crissi, Getty Images / iStockphoto)

No restaurants have been mentioned by name.

The Nima portable gluten tester was used in the study. Its manufacturer has links to certain authors from Columbia University and a co-founder of the company is one of them.

"We all want people to be vigilant, but not too worried," said lead author Dr. Benjamin Lerner. "If you have celiac disease or gluten intake is harmful, you should feel comfortable asking the server how things are prepared."

A Nima device uses a sample of pea-sized food to check for the presence of gluten. it detects gluten at levels below 20 parts per million.

Under a US Food and Drug Administration regulation that came into force in 2014, a food must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten if the manufacturer wants to label it gluten-free.

The researchers' findings may not reflect all gluten-free restaurant foods, the Celiac Disease Foundation said in a statement about the study. "Nima users may have been more likely to test foods that they suspected to be contaminated, which could result in a higher proportion of seropositive foods. convincing proof of the difficulty of maintaining a strict gluten-free diet. "

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According to the National Institutes of Health, about 1 in 100 people worldwide have celiac disease. In addition, research conducted by the Mayo Clinic in 2017 found that 3.1 million Americans avoid gluten, although they do not have celiac disease – a figure that tripled between 2009 and 2014.

The global market for gluten-free products, valued at $ 4.72 billion in 2017, is expected to reach about $ 7.6 billion in 2024, according to Zion Market Research, based in New York.

Lerner said the gluten detected in the study's foods probably came from cross-contamination, such as using the same pots to cook pasta containing gluten and then noodles without gluten. The solution is to educate restaurant workers about the importance of separately preparing gluten-free foods and washing preparation areas before starting to prepare gluten-free dishes.

"Being hyper-vigilant to avoid gluten is associated with an increased rate of anxiety," Lerner said. "We do not want to alarm too much, but we want to raise awareness."

The researchers analyzed 18 months of data – 5,624 tests conducted by 804 Nima users across the country willing to share the results of their tests.

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