This article is from page 30 of the 2005-10-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
SCIENTISTS at Teagasc’s National Food Centre in Dublin are involved in work on the development of a gluten-free bread formulation that they believe is superior to anything currently available on the market. Indeed, a number of small bakeries in Ireland have taken the formula- tion and are working on it commer- ats
Work on the gluten-free formula- tion was undertaken because of the increasing numbers of people who are gluten-intolerant, as well as Coeliac sufferers. Dr Eimear Gal- lagher, who is head of the research team, also believes that gluten free products are of a poor quality and are often expensive.
“We started to develop a gluten-
free bread with no wheat starch or gluten presence, working with rice flour and potato starch. We used a lot of statistical and mathematical models to give us the best formula- tion,’ said Dr Gallagher. *”Taste tests were done with panels from the Irish Coeliac Society, which has given the new formulation its approval.”
As yet the unnamed formula- tion has yet to come on the market, however, all going well it could be in commercial use before the end of next year. Meanwhile the research group has focussed their attentions functional ingredients, such as pro- teins, dietary fibre, calcium and mi- cronutrients to the formula.
One of the problems that people with gluten intolerance have is that they are not able to absorb some of these important nutrients properly.