Many “gluten-free” products actually contain gluten, study says

Almost 10 per cent of food sold as "gluten-free" at cafes and restaurants across Melbourne actually contained gluten, an undercover study has found.

City of Melbourne health officers made surprise visits to 127 food businesses across the city, taking 158 food samples for testing. 

The results, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, found one in 11 samples contained or were contaminated with gluten.

The foods included common menu items such as burgers, risottos and banana bread.

Gastroenterologist Jason Tye-Din from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute said gluten posed serious long-term health risks to people with coeliac disease.

"They include osteoporosis, infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, impaired growth, nutrient deficiency and an increased risk of certain cancers, including lymphoma," he said.

According to food standards in Europe and the US, food that contains less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten is safe for those who are intolerant.

For severe coeliacs, even smaller amounts can make them ill.

Some of the foods tested during the study had up to 80ppm.

The disease — an allergy to gluten that causes damage to the intestine — affects approximately one in 70 Australians.

Four out of five sufferers are unaware that they have the condition.

A strict and lifelong gluten-free diet is the only treatment for those with the condition.

Dr Tye-Din said not everyone with the disease experiences symptoms after gluten exposure but the internal damage was still being done.

Dr Tye-Din said the study confirmed what many of his patients have experienced.

"Many say, 'yep I knew it', because they're coming home after eating out and they're getting sick," he said

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