Gluten-free product sales

Gluten is a protein complex found in wheat, barley, rye and triticale. Corn and rice also contain gluten, but are considered gluten-free, as the gluten in these species does not cause celiac disease. A gluten-free diet is the only medically accepted treatment for celiac disease, the related condition dermatitis herpetiformis and wheat allergy, but not gluten allergy.  Gluten-free fad diets have recently become popular.

Health advocates and gluten-free celebrities such as 2011 U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic, Chelsea Clinton and TV host Elisabeth Hasselbeck have helped drive demand by raising awareness about celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Gluten-free growth: Gluten is everywhere. It is in baked goods, pasta and beer, as well as some unexpected items, such as McDonald’s French fries, lunch meat, lipstick and some medicines. “Consumers do feel some sort of reward when they eat gluten-free products. They don’t feel bloated. They don’t have belly aches. This usually encourages them to repeat the purchase,” said Ewa Hudson, Euromonitor International’s head of health and wellness research.

Europe is ahead of the United States when it comes to celiac disease testing and awareness. Italy, for example, helps people with celiac disease pay for the additional cost of gluten-free foods. General Mills Inc is a leader, having reformulated some Chex breakfast cereals, Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes and Bisquick pancake mix to remove gluten.

Anheuser Busch Inbev SA sells a gluten-free beer called Redbridge, which is sold in many mainstream supermarkets.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc for years has had a gluten-free menu and Subway, the popular sandwich chain, is testing gluten-free bread and brownies in Texas and Oregon.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey and actress Gwyneth Paltrow have talked about avoiding gluten as part of detoxification diets, comments that prompted critics to dub gluten-free the diet du jour.

Trend chasers who have no medical reason to be on a gluten-free diet account for more than half of the daily consumption of gluten-free products, said Alessio Fasano, medical director at the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research.

Top-notch professional athletes are the only other people who get some measurable benefit from cutting out gluten without a doctor’s orders, he said. Eliminating dietary gluten appears to free up energy that otherwise would be used to break down the tough-to-digest protein, said Fasano, who joked that athletes use the diet as a “legal performance enhancer.”

Interest from big retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc also should help bring down gluten-free product prices, which run 2 percent to 3 percent higher than similar items containing gluten, said Alice Bast, founder of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

The cookbook author and “Gluten-Free Girl” blogger, says the category has staying power and suspects she knows why people who do not have a medical reason for going gluten-free feel better when they do.