Celiac

Life without gluten / Gluten-Free Life

The Role of Bread in Human History

Since prehistoric times, bread has been one of the most important components of the human diet. Gatherers and hunters chewed wild cereal grains, probably in response to an instinctive need urging their bodies to consume them. Cultivation of wheat is known to have started around 8500 BC, with a wide propagation across the ancient world, along with other cereals, including barley, oats and rye. Wheat thus became the most common staple food in the human menu. The first evidence of the use of leavening was found in ancient Egypt in the first half of the third millenium AC, in the form of a fermentation process that caused leavening of the meal used for the preparation of bread. Around 1000 BC, the Egyptians discovered the secret of fermentation, while using yeast that was isolated during the beer production process. The Egyptians were also the first to grind cereal grains with milling stones, an ingenious device made of two stacked large stones, in which the upper stone moves on the lower stone, either in a circular or linear movement, thus crushing the grains into powdery dust. From ancient Egypt and the region known as the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia, Assyria, etc.), bread was introduced to other areas of the ancient world.

The beginning of the Roman Empire, in the second century BC, marks the acquisition of then unknown bread-making techniques by the Romans. As their huge army progresses to conquer and control increasingly wider areas, Roman soldiers eat their bread as it is baked on the way. Gradually, a bread that looks relatively thin and not fully raised, slightly different from what is currently known to us, becomes the Roman soldiers' basic nutritional and dietary staple. As time passes and baking techniques improve, throughout the vast expansion of the old world controlled by the great Roman Empire, large public bakeries are created, where thousands of bread loaves are baked daily.

Bread in the Modern Industrial Era

Technological advances during the industrial revolution brought about many changes in bread: new baking techniques, changes in quality and taste, but primarily, a major change in the grinding process. A new milling process removes the seed coat of the wheat, or the bran, as well as the germ. However, this alteration is not without serious consequences: as opposed to the traditional crushing of the whole grain, the new process causes the loss of vitamins and minerals, followed by an increase in illnesses of all kinds. For instance, the deficiency in thiamine found in rice grains results in outbreaks of the beri-beri disease; lack of niacin causes the Pellagra disease. A disproportionally high concentration of gluten, together with a reduction of the nutritional dietary fiber required by the body for a good digestion of flour, likely promoted the celiac disease and caused people to develop an increased sensitivity to gluten. The relatively easy ways in which white flour can now be processed trigger a dramatic increase in its consumption; multiple and widely diverse uses are found for white flour, which include pasta, cakes, cookies, snacks, etc. There is a well-known 18th century anecdote about John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, who was so busy at the gambling table that he could not afford to eat a meal; he asked a servant to serve him his meal between two slices of bread, inventing the popular meal which is nowadays named after him. White flour-based foods become increasingly popular, a more and more common ingredient in everyman's diet. It makes up a greater part of the modern food basket, to the extent that in many parts of the world, bread and its derivatives are currently the nutritional base of many societies around the globe. Numerous contemporary diseases have been linked to the white-flour culture. White flour, in fact, is a form of sugar with no real nutritive value for the human body and even obstructs the process of efficient acquisition of energy from food.

What is the celiac disease?

The name celiac, from the greek koiliakos (κοιλιακός), means litterally "from the abdomen". Indeed, abdominal pain is one of the classic symptoms of celiac: a swollen abdomen is a typical symptom in children. Claudius Galenus (129 - c.200 AD), better known as Galen of Pergamon, is apparently the first physician to have diagnosed celiac and given it its name. In the 1960s, U.S. physicians McDonald, Dobbins & Rubin found that a biopsy of the small intestine was the best way to diagnose celiac. This test is still in practice. In past years, there has been a widespread awareness of the celiac disease, as a condition that is no longer limited to the Western world, but is rather increasingly found in the Far East. The most common explanation for this situation is that whereas on the one hand, there has been a significant global increase in the use of processed white flour, there is also, on the other hand, a greater awareness in the medical community of the disease itself. The medical community now has the state-of-the-art diagnostic ability to detect and focus on a large number of indicators that pinpoint celiac as the cause of previously unexplained sensitivities. Instead of having their patients do extensive tests to explore possible causes for irritability, allergies and discomfort, physicians will now routinely order a set of gluten-sensitivity tests as their first option. The number of diagnosed gluten-sensitive people has alarmingly increased. Nicknamed "the one-thousand-face disease", because of its multiple forms, which include abdominal pain, skin rashes, and various forms of cancer, celiac currently comes up as the first candidate and possible perpetrator when certain symptoms are present.

The human body has a way of balancing itself according to its needs. Confronted with a constant imbalance caused by a daily diet saturated with white flour―a diet which is also harmful because it is lacking in important nutrients―, the body sends out an alarm call to restore its balance. Aside from people who have been diagnosed as gluten-sensitive, there is a growing trend among people who are not sensitive to gluten, but who consciously chose to turn to a gluten-free diet for the sake of a healthy lifestyle. The outcome of this choice is most frequently described as a feeling of relief in digestive processes, along with a lighter and energetic sensation that lasts throughout the day.

Solutions and Alternatives to Gluten

In parallel to the individual ability to totally refrain from any consumption of gluten as the cure to celiac, there are new considerations involved. The increased incidence of celiac in humans and the serious impact of the illness on modern life has caused the food industry to confront the problem by tackling it from a totally different angle: a thorough search for gluten-free alternatives to any food product that contains flour. This challenge is not without major obstacles: modern nutrition is based on numerous varieties of foods and food products that are as deeply enrooted in the mass consumption habits as can be: think only of how much of the following are part of a common daily diet: pasta, snacks, fast food, sweet and salty pastries,―and did we mention bread, buns and rolls?

Gluten is the protein that produces the binding element that sticks together all the ingredients of bread. It is no coincidence that the word "gluten" is a faint reminder of "glue". It is this protein that gives baked products their unique texture and the well-known flexibility to the dough that makes it possible to create so many different food products. To match the characteristics present in flour-based products that will satisfy the consumer and his requirements in terms of taste and flavor, food companies tested and experimented with complex development processes that were designed to imitate the natural functions of gluten through an intricate process of replacement and substitution, with innovative and creative production methods.

Not an easy challenge, but as producers, we have spared no amount of creative effort, using a generous blend of imagination and a good dose of "out-of-the-box" thinking.

Says Boaz Eliav, Development Director at Green-Lite Co, the leading local producer of gluten-free baked goods: "We are aware of the unique properties of gluten and of the important role it plays in shaping the final product, but we also know how important it is for the consumer to get that natural look of the baked product, that familiar and attractive aspect. We, the development team, could not simply stand by and fail to respond. We spared no effort, no resource or material to attain our target, which was a clear and challenging one: to go out there and market our tasty, good-looking gluten-free products with exactly the same appeal as any of the traditional baked goods, but with a wider range of uses."

"In order to give our gluten-free raw materials such as tapioca flour, corn meal and potato starch the same net-like, sticky texture of the gluten-rich wheat flour, we had to go from the end to the beginning. We experimented with ingredients that are not usually part of the bakery stock of supplies, and we produced a light, net-like, fluffy texture that we had been trying to get. We used special molds, all kinds of machinery that is normally used in the pasta and meat industry. We designed meticulous production procedures, until we got a dough with the exact consistency that we had dreamed we could get. Our resulting dough can proudly compete with any of the best flour-based doughs. Every product still requires undivided attention from our production team, and I agree that it is practically impossible to get the desired result without close human intervention, but the end-product is so good that we finally decided it would be time to move on with this satisfactory result and start devising novel ways for its massive production, in a way that would not affect the quality of the end-result that we had finally reached."

For Jewish people, Passover is one of the most significant religious holidays. Its most striking aspect is the absolute interdiction to eat any form of bread or leavened dough during the entire week of the holiday. For this reason, the local industry has constantly been looking for alternatives to the use of wheat flour. The experience accumulated over years of constant attempts to find a replacement for flour-based products was very helpful and beneficial to the gluten-free industry.

With almost 30 years of experience in the Kosher-for-Passover industry, Green-Lite Co. was founded with the vision and for the purpose of providing the market with gluten-free tasty, delicious, indulgent solutions which proudly match―perhaps even surpass― the quality and flavor of regular products.

After years of intensive development, with endless ups and downs, but always determined and trusting that we could do it, we are finally on the market with a wide range of products that includes a wide choice of breads, artisan breads and country-style breads, several kinds of buns and rolls, yeast cakes, pastries, cakes and cookies.

It was extremely important for us to give each customer the exact product he expected to get. Bread, for instance, had to be light, leavened, with no residual aftertaste; it was targeted as an enhanced combination of flavors that would be appropriate for daily consumption. Each kind of roll or bun had to be shaped to match its designated use.

In the beginning, the local market regarded the new line of gluten-free products with mixed feelings; repeatedly, we had to convince our customers that our products are gluten-free; that as customers, they fully deserve soft, edible bread, yummy rolls, tasty buns, scrumptious cakes and delicious cookies; that they too, are entitled to buy soft, flexible pastry dough that can be used with a variety of fillings, to be enjoyed as the most exquisite home-made delicacies.

"You have literally changed our lives", "I thought I'd never enjoy bread again", "There's no need to compromise anymore": those are some of the comments that we hear everyday from our customers. Do we have to add that, next to our vision-turned-reality and our commercial success, nothing compares to our satisfaction when we hear our customers relate the improvement they feel in their well-being and in the quality of their lives?

There are numerous companies and producers worldwide who are active in the gluten-free market, specializing in non-baked products. They provide quality and tasty solutions that bring some relief to the lives of people who have been diagnosed as gluten-sensitive, and also to anyone who choses to abstain from gluten-rich foods as a means to a better, healthier lifestyle.

The GF market- A review of the Celiac patients community and the gluten free industry

The GF market is small by nature- The numbers are 1 percent from population, and the estimation of gluten free daily users is around 15,000,000. Besides that the GF market is secluded and imports almost every gluten free raw material. The unique characters of the market caused Celiac patients and people who needed to move to gluten free diet several problems:

High costs- Since almost every gluten free raw material or end product must be imported to US, the cost of products to the end users are extremely high.
Low quality of gluten free food- The food found on the shelves is un-tasty most of the times, has aftertastes, the texture doesn't resemble the original product and usually leaves a gritty feeling in the mouth. The low quality is a worldwide problem, but besides that the selection on the shelves is not wide because of the small market.
Nutritional values- The industry tried to focus on trying to get good enough products, without taking into account the specific nutritional needs of Celiac patients- High levels of Iron, Calcium, Vitamins and nutritional fibers, all of them missing because of their lack of ability to absorb them.
Complexity of baking- People who tried to bake at home in order to widen their variety of food, found themselves being forced to spend endless hours in the kitchen: learning about gluten free cooking, experimenting with all purpose flours which needed adjustments in baking time, temp. or the amount of water, or trying to mix their own formulas, based on gluten free raw materials like rice flours, corn flour, potato flour etc.
Un practical solutions- Since the quality of all purpose flours found on the shelves is not that good, people moved to baking mixes designated for specific recipes, or mixed their own formulas. The common gluten free baker or cook has to keep dozens of different mixes or flours, most of them very expensive. The large variety of mixes and flours is expensive to keep, and there is a big amount of waste. It also made cooking and baking un-flexible, everything had to be planned ahead.
The result of narrow selection of options- Since most of the products were un-tasty, and baking is very complex, Celiac patients found themselves eating fruits and vegetables most of the time, a cause for lost of weight.

Challenges of the gluten free food industry:

Size- With an estimation of around 15,000,000 gluten free daily users, manufacturing to the local market can be un-economic. Several early gluten free manufacturers, who lead the way, had to shut down after not being able to return the large initial investment, due to small revenues. Manufacturers who were able to sell their products worldwide (like Carmit candies or Greenlite food) disconnected their dependency on the local market and show profitability.
Dependency on importing and a constant search- Since the market is secluded and poor with local gluten free raw materials, the local industry is totally dependent on importing, and is on a constant global search for new gluten free products and raw materials. A time consuming, complex and expensive mission.
Strict rules and regulation for manufacturing gluten free products-
The advanced Israeli health requirements are GMP standards, HACCP, ISO 22,000 and less than 20 gluten PPM (parts per million) which require new and separate manufacturing areas.
Food labeling is very strict and accurate and connected to the standards of the manufacturer. Misuse of a ward on a label can disqualify a whole line of products, and expose the manufacturer to law suits. On the other hand, manufacturers that have clean facilities (without gluten), but without the right standards must label their products as "wheat less", a label and a statement that celiac patients cannot fully trust, so they usually don't purchase the product.
Each production batch must be tested in a laboratory, and only then can be distributed.

The combination of a small and secluded market with very strict rules and regulation has several effects:

The high standards mean higher levels of initial investments.
Higher levels of food waste.
Much more complex daily operations.

The combination of the above facts with a small local market caused manufacturers to avoid entering the gluten free world of products, and small investments of the food industry in the R&D of gluten free solutions/products/formulas.