Gluten intolerance - The Facts

Brioche Gluten free products.

At Brioche we experiment with the recipes to invent healthier, tastier ways of making gluten free products. We make our soups, stocks and sauces gluten free whenever possible.

For those who are not gluten intolerant, you too will benefit from our gluten free produce. A gluten free soup has a better depth of flavour when thickened by reducing the soup slowly over a stove rather than adding flour.

A cake made out of ground nuts is far more flavoursome and nutritious than a cake made out of white flour. If you love gluten free we have designed our menu for you. If you don’t, well you may find the lack of flours, sweeteners and preservatives agreeing with you. It certainly wont do you any harm.

Below we have provided additional information on coeliac disease.

Coeliac disease

Coeliac disease affects 1 in 100 Australians, however 75% of sufferrers are undiagnosed. Coeliac disease is sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. It is an auto-immune disease, meaning the body produces antibodies that attack its own tissues. Long term, coeliac disease is related to poor nutrition and malabsorption of nutrients in the body.

It has been suggested that if left untreated, coeliac disease will cause the gut to become "leaky", allowing environmental triggers into the body that may cause other disease.

Symptoms of coeliac disease

Fatigue, weakness and lethargy
Anaemia
Flatulence and abdominal distention
Diarrhoea and/or constipation

Related Conditions

People with celiac disease often suffer from numerous related conditions:

Osteomalacia/Low Bone Density (70%)
Liver Disease (42%)
Cancer—Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (39%)
Obesity (30-40%)
Cows Milk Intolerance (24%)
Arthritis (20%)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (20%)

Diagnosis

On average it takes 11 years for patients to be diagnosed with coeliac disease after contracting the disease. Due to the disease's rarity, doctors don't often consider coeliac disease when handling complaints. Any delay of diagnosis and treatment dramatically increases an individual’s risk of developing additional autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis and cancer. Medical guidelines are now recommending celiac screening for all people with symptoms of the disease. All it takes is a simple blood test.

Coeliac disease runs in some families. This means a person with a family history of coeliac disease may have an increased risk of developing the condition.

Gluten free foods can be more expensive

Gluten free foods are on average 242% more expensive then their non-gluten free counterparts.

According to a study conducted by the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, gluten-free versions of products like bread, pizza and crackers are nearly three times as expensive as regular products.

In Australia, gluten free cereals tend to be much more expensive, often sold at the same price as equivalent gluten products, but in smaller boxes that are half the weight.

There are numerous reasons for the extra expenses on gluten free foods:

Gluten free foods need to have production lines and factories cleaned of all gluten products before they can be manufactured. This single-use environment usually means production costs for manufacturers are increased.
Only a small number of suppliers produce foods that meet the strict gluten free standards. This means that they are able to set a higher price for their relatively exclusive wares.
Additional ingredients (such as xanthan gum, guargum, etc.) require extra preparation steps that add to the cost.

For more information please visit: Coeliac Australia