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Showing posts from March, 2020

People with Active Celiac Are More Susceptible to Covid-19 and Pneumonia

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If you have Celiac, don't get glutened now, because it will make it easier for Coronavirus to harm you. That's the message from a new video posted by Dr. Alessio Fasano, Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Celiac Research and Treatment.  (Press the arrow/play button to watch.) If you don't know who he is, he's a bit of a superstar of the Celiac community.  He and fellow researchers, performed a study, over a decade ago, and worldwide, showing that the prevalence of Celiac is much higher than previously thought.  He found local variations in prevalence such as, that North Africa has a lot more of it than we do in the US. Many of his findings were fascinating, surprising, and ultimately led to the provision of safer food for people with Celiac Disease. Since then, he has continued to support the community and performed more studies. Viruses and Bacteria So let's talk a bit about viruses and bacteria.  A flu virus burns itself out i

Gluten Free Labeling Updates 2020

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Currently active Certified Gluten Free labels as of March 2020 When you shop for gluten free products you're always taking a risk.  Two familiar labels have now changed, so it's time for an update.  Gluten Intolerance Group and National Celiac Association have both changed their labels.  While NSF and Beyond Celiac have kept theirs.  I can only speculate about why, but it's likely to be due to copycat labels that seek to fool shoppers with similar looking labels.  The sooner we memorize the new ones the better. Please join me in thanking the certification companies for making our lives easier and safer.   New and Old  NCA certified GF label New and Old GFCO / GIG certified GF label   As always, if a product, sold in the USA, is labeled anywhere with the words "gluten free" they must abide by the FDA's definition that it contains less than 20 ppm of gluten.  Certification is not required, but is greatly appreciated by the Celiac