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April 10, 2008

Disturbing Gluten Digest Enzyme Ad

Bad Idea

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Kim found this ad in the March issue of Vegetarian Times. You know it's not our style to rain on anyone's parade, but we were concerned that this information might mislead someone. I didn't know whether to just ignore it, or to bring it to your attention, so I ran it by Dr. Peter Green at the Columbia University Celiac Disease Center and these were his comments:

"This advertisement is misleading. There are currently no rigorously tested enzymes on the market that digest all ingested gluten. There is currently considerable expenditure on the development of enzymes that digest the usually very resistant gluten molecules. Unlike lactose that requires just enough lactase to eliminate enough lactose to let people be comfortable, gluten needs to be fully digested. The enzymes need to be tested in the test tube, on animal models, and in humans. The enzymes have to be proven safe and very effective. This drug development is very expensive. The investors in the development of these drugs will need to recoup their investments so the drugs will not be available OTC. They will be prescription drugs. In addition, the ad states that there is amylase activity. That is irrelevant because amylase is a carbohydrate with nothing to do with gluten. This ad is misleading and should be challenged."

What do you think about this?

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