Gluten-free food database: the nutritional quality and cost of packaged gluten-free foods

Abstract

Notwithstanding a growth in popularity and consumption of gluten-free (GF) food products, there is a lack of substantiated analysis of the nutritional quality compared with their gluten-containing counterparts. To put GF foods into proper perspective both for those who need it (patients with celiac disease) and for those who do not, we provide contemporary data about cost and nutritional quality of GF food products. The objective of this study is to develop a food composition database for seven discretionary food categories of packaged GF products. Nutrient composition, nutritional information and cost of foods from 63 GF and 126 gluten-containing counterparts were systematically obtained from 12 different Austrian supermarkets. The nutrition composition (macro and micronutrients) was analyzed by using two nutrient composition databases in a stepwise approximation process. A total of 63 packaged GF foods were included in the analysis representing a broad spectrum of different GF categories (flour/bake mix, bread and bakery products, pasta and cereal-based food, cereals, cookies and cakes, snacks and convenience food). Our results show that the protein content of GF products is >2 fold lower across 57% of all food categories. In 65% of all GF foods, low sodium content was observed (defined as <120 mg/100 g). Across all GF products, 19% can be classified as source high in fiber (defined as >6g/100 g). On average, GF foods were substantially higher in cost, ranging from +205% (cereals) to +267% (bread and bakery products) compared to similar gluten-containing products. In conclusion, our results indicate that for GF foods no predominant health benefits are indicated; in fact, some critical nutrients must be considered when being on a GF diet. For individuals with celiac disease, the GF database provides a helpful tool to identify the food composition of their medical diet. For healthy consumers, replacing gluten-containing products with GF foods is aligned with substantial cost differences but GF foods do not provide additional health benefits from a nutritional perspective.

Gluten‐Free Breads: The Gap Between Research and Commercial Reality

“…The average fiber content is 5.19%, which is higher than in wheat breads, as also reported by Allen and Orfila (2018), and ranges from 0% to 11.7%. Other studies did not find differences in the fiber content of breads with and without gluten (Kulai & Rashid, 2014;Missbach et al, 2015), or showed a lower amount of fiber in GFBs (do Nascimento et al, 2014). Although mixtures of flours and starches used for GFBs present lower fiber content than wheat flour, the scarce differences should be related to the inclusion of hydrocolloids, nutritionally categorized as fibers, to mimic gluten functionality.…”

“…Conversely, research on the cost or nutritional value of GFPs has been carried out, although usually focused on the products available in a single country with a reduced number of breads or brands analyzed. These studies were conducted in Italy (Mazzeo, Cauzzi, Brighenti, & Pellegrini, ; Morreale, Angelino, & Pellegrini, ), Austria (Missbach et al., ), Spain (Matos & Rosell, ; Miranda, Lasa, Bustamante, Churruca, & Simon, ), the United Kingdom (Allen & Orfila, ; Fry, Madden, & Fallaize, ), Brazil (do Nascimento et al., , ), Australia (Wu et al., ), or Canada (Kulai & Rashid, ).…”

The economic burden of gluten‐free products and gluten‐free diet: a cost estimation analysis in Greece

“…Gluten-free products were more expensive than regular products by 2-518% 4 Missbach et al (8) Austria Cereal-based Supermarkets Gluten-free products were more expensive than regular products by 207-267% 5…”

“…Additionally, more recent data from the UK showed that GFP were at least four times more expensive than their regular alternatives . Finally, a recent study from Austria found that the cost of all analysed GFP was 205–267% higher than that of the conventional foods .…”

Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines of dermatitis herpetiformis (Duhring’s disease) – consensus of Polish Dermatological Society

“…Dostępna w sprzedaży mąka kukurydziana, ryżowa i gryczana może jednak być zanieczyszczona glutenem na skutek np. przetwarzania w tym samym zakładzie zbóż bezglutenowych i glutenowych [47]. Dlatego najlepiej polecać chorym produkty z licencjonowanym znakiem przekreślonego kłosa, ponieważ są one kontrolowane przez organizacje chorych na celiakię.…”