WATCH ABOVE: Researchers in Kansas are working to identify and remove the allergen in gluten that causes problems for sufferers of Celiac disease. Katya Leick reports.
WICHITA, Kan. – New research funded by farmers aims to breed wheat for people who can’t eat wheat and other grains, and comes amid booming consumer interest in gluten-free foods.
The Kansas Wheat Commission provided $200,000 for the first two years of a project to identify the wheat DNA that causes a reaction in people with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder in which eating any gluten can damage the small intestine. That would theoretically let researchers breed celiac-safe wheat.
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U.S. consumers spent $973 million on products marketed as gluten-free in 2014 – driven in part by non-celiac sufferers intolerant to gluten or following fad diets.
READ MORE: Canadian researchers developing treatment for celiac disease
Research supporters say it isn’t an effort to regain market share. Some skeptical celiac experts say the research may, at best, lead to a less toxic wheat variety.
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