<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
The Listowners are in the process (which may take months) of making
revisions to the FAQ, and from time to time we will post additions which
we feel would be of immediate interest to the listmembers.  The
following material was done in cooperation with Don Kasarda (thanks,
Don!)
 
 
Q.  How can I determine the amount of gluten from the weight of the
wheat in food?
 
A.  For 100 units of whole grain wheat, about 70 units of white flour
results from the milling process.  The rest is separately sold as wheat
bran or wheat germ.  Those 70 units of flour are about 10%- 15% protein,
thus about 7 to 10 units of protein for 100 units of whole wheat.  The
protein is about 80% gluten, thus about 6 to 8 units of gluten for 100
units of whole wheat.  Since one typically sees wheat flour as an
ingredient, appying the 70% factor implies 8 to 12 units of gluten per
100 units of wheat flour.
 
 
Q.  Sometimes I see references to the amount of prolamin or gliadin
instead of gluten.
 
A. To cereal scientists, gluten is the same as prolamin, but in some
older terminology only the gliadin fraction is termed prolamin.  Gliadin
makes up about half of the gluten.  The other half is often called
glutenin, but it is very similar to the gliadin half in composition and
structure and I suspect that it is toxic to a large extent.  It would be
simplest to say that gluten equals gliadin equals prolamin as far as
toxicity is concerned.
 
 
Q.  How is wheat starch made?  Why is some starch said to be more toxic
than others?
 
A.  Most of the wheat grain and of white flour is made up of starch
granules.  Starch granules make up about 75% of grain or of white flour.
In the processes used to make wheat starch, a small amount of the gluten
protein (actually mostly the gliadin fraction, but not entirely), sticks
to the surface of the starch granules.  The amount depends on the
washing method, how many times the granules are washed, and factors like
that.  Wheat starch can be made very low in surface protein and it is
only the surface protein that is of concern (there are some internal
granule proteins, but we are pretty sure that they are not gluten
proteins).
 
 
Q.  How much gluten is in wheat germ and wheat bran?
 
A.  I don't know how much gluten they contain, but my feeling is that it
is likely to be more than you would find in wheat starch and so best
avoided by celiac patients.