Should coeliac sufferers be allowed their oats?
Heather Julia Ellis and Paul J. Ciclitira • Confusion exists over the suitability of oats for coeliac patients. • The majority of oats available in Europe are contaminated with other cereals. • Barley contamination is a particular problem. • One of two commercial gluten test kits is barley-insensitive. • A small minority of coeliacs have oat-sensitive small intestinal T cells. • Inclusion of oats in the diet should be carefully monitored and backed by robust assay systems. The suitability of oats as part of a gluten-free diet is controversial. Contamination of many oats products with wheat, rye and particularly barley, together with inadequacy of available gluten-testing systems may account, at least in part, for the confusion. Some clear evidence has, however, emerged in the past few years that a small number of gluten-sensitive patients display a specific small intestinal T cell response to oat peptides that cannot be explained by contamination with other cereals. Oats could form a p
