What is food allergy?
Allergic reactions to foodstuffs occur where the body reacts to individual proteins in the food. Some individuals suffer severe reactions from only minute quantities of the foodstuff to which they are intolerant. Other individuals suffer milder discomfort which resolves uneventfully. Food allergy is more common in children than in adults. Most grow out of the food allergy in the pre-school years. It is not uncommon to react to more than one foodstuff. Where a food which is an important source of nutrition has to be excluded from the diet it is important to find suitable alternatives and substitutes in order for the diet to remain healthy and varied.
What is wheat allergy?
Wheat can cause various types of reaction. Those individuals who predispose to allergies often react to wheat dust (e.g. when baking) and yet do not react to wheat in food. Laboratory tests which indicate that an individual is wheat intolerant must therefore always be considered together with symptoms and food reactions experienced.
Our most common corn types (wheat, rye and barley) contain the protein gluten. In the disorder coeliac disease, suffers cannot tolerate gluten and therefore have to adhere to a gluten-free diet. The diagnosis of coeliac disease is made on the basis of special investigations of the gut. Individuals with wheat allergy may use gluten-free flour as a substitute, but often tolerate oats.
Since corn goods are commonly used and are important sources of nutrition in the Norwegian diet, it is important that the right diagnosis be made to ensure a proper and not unecessarily strict diet.
What reactions does wheat cause in individuals with wheat allergy?
Individuals with wheat allergy can react differently to ingestion of products containing wheat. Reactions include diarrhoea, stomach pain, flare-ups of eczema, asthma and allergic shock.
How is wheat allergy treated?
Food allergy is treated by excluding the non-tolerated foodstuff from the diet.
What foods contain wheat?
Most Norwegian corn products and baked goods contain wheat. Otherwise, wheat is used in a number of dishes, e.g. sauces and soups. Pasta (macaroni, spaghetti, etc.) are wheat-based. Most individuals with wheat allergy also react to rye and barley.
What can an individual with wheat allergy eat?
Wheat protein is not present in pure products derived from milk, egg, meat, fish, shellfish, fruit, nuts, oil or vegetables. Most sandwich spreads do not contain wheat.
Corn types such as maize, rice, buckwheat and millet are good substitute products. Many wheat-intolerant individuals can also tolerate oats. Wheat-free and gluten-free diets will, in practice, be fairly similar.
Gluten-free products such as meal mixtures, pasta, biscuits, crackers and breakfast cereals can be used. Some of these contain maize starch but the quantity of wheat protein is so small that most allergic individuals tolerate it. Well-stocked grocery stores and a number of healthfood companies stock gluten-free products. Many individuals with wheat allergy bake their own bread, but there are also bakers who sell gluten-free goods. The local coeliac associations maintain a list of suitable bakers.
Because wheat is used in many processed foods, it is important that the list of ingredients be read carefully!
How do you know whether the foods contain wheat?
The list of ingredients in processed foods will inform the consumer of the food contents. Examples of terms which indicate that the food contains wheat are durum wheat, rusk, bran, macaroni, noodles, pasta, semolina, spelt, dinkel and tritricale. In terms of individuals with wheat allergy and coeliac disease spelt is the same as wheat and therefore may NOT be used. According to the regulations pertaining to labelling, all products containing wheat should state whether the ingredients include wheat. If there is any uncertainty over the wording of the list of ingredients the contents should be established prior to eating the food product.
The Norwegian Coeliac Association has information about coeliac disease and a gluten-free diet.
www.ncf.no
Tel: +47 22 79 9170