Gluten comes from the Latin word for ‘glue’ which gives dough the elastic property that holds gas when it rises.  Bubbles of carbon dioxide are released from fermenting yeast, which become trapped by the visco-elastic protein, ensuring a light honeycombed texture for the dough. The elastic nature of gluten also holds particles of the dough together, preventing crumbling during rolling and shaping. Hence, gluten plays a vital role in the production of leavened baked goods.

Gluten is a mixture of two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, which is found in most, but not all, grains:

• Grains containing gluten – wheat (including wheat varieties like spelt, kamut, farro and durum, plus products like bulgar and semolina), barley, rye, triticale and oats (note – oats are inherently gluten-free, but often become contaminated with wheat during growing or processing).
• Gluten-free grains – corn, millet, rice, sorghum.
• Gluten-free pseudo-cereals – amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa.

Gluten intolerance:

Some people are unable to tolerate gluten (specifically the gliadin fraction of gluten) when it comes in contact with the small intestine. In gluten intolerant people, gluten causes the small intestinal lining (villi) to become inflamed, which in turn flattens the villi and hinders the absorption of nutrients. This condition is known as coeliac disease, with around 1 in 100 people being affected by the condition in Australia. The gold standard for diagnosis is a small bowel biopsy and a strict gluten-free diet is the only recognised treatment for coeliac disease.

Food labels:

As outlined in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, the presence of cereals containing gluten (i.e. wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt and their hybridised strains) in retail and packaged food products must be declared on the label. Some food manufacturers use a bold font to highlight all the gluten-containing grains in the ingredients list so as to ensure that the mandatory declaration of all gluten ingredients stands out from other substances listed.

Where a food is not required to bear a label (e.g. bread sold at a bakery), the presence of gluten containing ingredients must be declared on, or in connection with, the display of the food, or declared to the purchaser upon request.

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