A booming new trend in the food industry is based on a common gut reaction. The reported number of Americans with celiac disease — a serious autoimmune reaction to gluten — has risen from one in 10,000 in the 1950s to one in 133 in 2009, according to a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic. And a whopping 31 million Americans are thought to be gluten-intolerant, according to Mintel, an international market research firm. As these numbers have risen, so has the demand for food products that don’t contain the protein, which is found in wheat, rye and barley.

The Register-Guard by Rosemary Howe Camozzi

Tags: celiac disease, gluten, Mintel, Nutrition, Research, The Register-Guard