<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I saw a recent post that indicated the gluten testing
being done using ELISA only tests for *wheat* gluten in
foods. I found two companies who manufacture gliadin tests
that *claim to* test foods for gluten in wheat, rye and
barley. One appears to be a home test, and the other a
test that companies could run on their own product lines.
Info below.

Tepnel BioSystems and Diffchamb are two companies that
produce tests for the gliadins found in wheat, rye, barley
and related grains. These tests do not detect the presence
of oats. Nor will they detect corn, rice, soy etc…

About the Tepnel test:

The kit reveals the presence of gluten in common wheat,
durum wheat, triticale, rye and barley making it highly
suitable for a wide range of food products from cakes and
pastries to baby foods and milk-based products. It looks
alot like a pregnancy test (well, it is based on the same
technology). It is often called a "dip-stik" test.
http://www.tepnel.com/news_archive/gluten_home_test.asp

For further information please contact:
Richard Fielder at Tepnel BioSystems
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

The Tepnel home test appears to be distributed by ELISA
Technologies, Inc. and one of the ELISA Technologies tests
is described in the following brochure:
http://www.elisa-tek.com/gluten_in_your_food.htm

**A concerning quote from this brochure**: "In addition to
gluten from common 'bread' wheat the test also detects
durum (pasta) wheat, triticale & rye and, to a much lesser
extent, barley." (Note: I could not tell if this is a
Tepnel test or not.)

About the Diffchamb tests:

Diffchamb has subsidiaries in seven countries. Their
"Transia Plate Gluten" is intended for the detection and
quantification of wheat gliadin and related prolamins from
triticale, rye and barley in food products.

This test does not appear to be as "user friendly". It is
a plate style assay rather than the dip stik type that
Tepnel manufactures. Any qualified scientific researcher
in the chemistry, medical, or biochemistry lab setting
would likely be able to purchase and run this test, but I
have not inquired about it with the company.

Link to the product info:
http://www.diffchamb.com/website/Archive/Templates/Item/product.asp?iSecId=85

The USA link:
http://www.diffchamb.com/website/Archive/Templates/localsites/news_usa.asp?iSecId=1446

Here is their brochure on this item:
http://www.diffchamb.com/website/Archive/documents/diffchambAB/product%20files/transiaproducts/Transia_Plate_Gluten_bw.pdf

Megan Tichy, Ph.D.
College Station, TX

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