Gluten-Free News and Information

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EWG's 2012 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ Environmental Working Group

Eat your fruits and vegetables! The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure according to the Environmental Working Group. The EWG Shopper's Guide to Pesticides™ can help reduce your exposures as much as possible. They put out the list of the Dirty Dozen (plus two) which helps determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and should be bought organic. However, the EWG emphasizes that eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all.

This year the EWG expanded the Dirty Dozen™ with a Plus category to highlight two crops -- green beans and leafy greens, meaning, kale and collard greens - that did not meet traditional Dirty Dozen ™criteria but were commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides.

These insecticides are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed from agriculture over the past decade. But they are not banned and still show up on some food crops.

For the full list: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

Canadian Government Funds Gluten-Free Safety Study

According to Food Navigator, the Canadian government has given the Canadian Celiac Association nearly a quarter of a million dollars (Canadian) to help increase the safety of gluten-free foods in Canada.

The Canadian Celiac Association estimates the number of Canadians with celiac disease to be approximately three million (out of a population of about 34 million). The funds will go to develop controls that will increase food safety and consumer confidence in Canadian gluten-free items.

According to the release, the CCA will work with ExcelGrains Canada, part of the Canada Grains Council, as well as the Packaging Association of Canada and the Canadian Health Food Association.

Once the CCA and associates develop controls and tools, they will be able to share those methods with the rest of the stakeholders in the gluten-free food market in Canada.

Source: Triumph Dining.com

Celiac Follow-Up Insufficient in Most Cases

Regular celiac disease follow-up often is lacking, according to a report by Dr. Margot L. Herman and Dr. Alberto Rubio-Tapia to be published in the August issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Moreover, when follow-up visits do occur, they are likely to be insufficient, without assessment of serology or dietary compliance, added the investigators.

Dr. Herman and Dr. Rubio-Tapia, both of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and their colleagues looked at 5 years of medical records of doctor visits from 122 patients with celiac disease recruited through the Rochester Epidemiology Project database, which links to medical records at the Mayo Clinic and the Olmsted Medical Center. Of the 122 patients, 70% were women. The median age was 42 years.

Cases with any degree of villous atrophy, associated crypt hyperplasia, and an increased number of intraepithelial lymphocytes were confirmed by intestinal biopsy, plus clinical or histologic improvement after the introduction of a gluten-free diet, as well as positive endomysial or tissue transglutaminase antibodies.

Overall, there were 314 celiac disease visits for the 122 patients during the 5-year follow-up period, mostly with primary care providers (56%) and gastroenterologists (39%).

Among patients with at least 4 years of follow-up after diagnosis, the authors calculated that just 40 (35%) had "regular" follow-up.

"The considerable incongruency of guidelines posed a challenge in defining the categories of follow-up." Nevertheless, "very few patients had medical follow-up that would be in keeping with even the most lax interpretation of current guidelines," the study concluded.

Source: Family Practice News Digital Network

-Gluten-Free News and Information from Beth Hillson, July 10,2012, glutenfree.com