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Self-Reported Gluten Intolerance Is Prevalent, but Not All Gluten-Containing Foods Are Equal

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An Invited Commentary to this article was published on 20 January 2023

Abstract

Background

Celiac disease prevalence approaches 1%; more suffer from non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Aims

Our goal was to estimate the prevalence of gluten intolerance.

Methods

We invited US adults (18–80 years) via Amazon’s mechanical Turk to complete an online survey. Gluten intolerance was defined as self-reported intolerance to wheat, barley, rye, flour, or pasta. Those with celiac disease were not excluded.

Results

We collected 2133 responses. Rate of gluten intolerance was 5.1% (95% CI 4.2–6.1%). Each food had different rates: wheat 4.8%, flour 1.2%, pasta 0.9%, barley 0.8%, and rye 0.8%. Among 108 adults reporting any gluten intolerance, 62.0% selected only wheat, 10.2% selected all gluten-containing grains excluding pasta and flour, and 5.6% selected all gluten-containing products. Overall intolerance to any food was 24.8% (95% CI 23.0–26.6%). Wheat was second only to lactose.

Conclusions

Self-reported intolerance to wheat, but not all gluten-containing foods, is common. Findings may suggest poor knowledge of gluten-containing foods or that self-perceived non-celiac gluten sensitivity is prevalent.

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Acknowledgments

AS is supported by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) under Grant K23DK122015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 Rotary Circle, Suite 225, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Claire L. Jansson-Knodell & Andrea Shin

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA

    Claire L. Jansson-Knodell & Alberto Rubio-Tapia

  3. Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA

    Mattie White

  4. Roudebush VA Medical Center, 1481 W 10Th St, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Carolyn Lockett

  5. Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Huiping Xu

Authors
  1. Claire L. Jansson-Knodell
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  2. Mattie White
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  3. Carolyn Lockett
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  4. Huiping Xu
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  5. Alberto Rubio-Tapia
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  6. Andrea Shin
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Contributions

CJK, AS: Study Concept and Design. MW: Data Management and Conduct of Study. CJK, MW, ART, AS: Data Interpretation. CL: Administrative Support and Study Coordinator. HX: Statistical Analysis. CJK: Drafting of Manuscript. CJK, MW, CL, HX, ART, AS: Critical Revisions to Manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Shin.

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The authors report there are no conflicting interests to declare or assistance with manuscript preparation.

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Jansson-Knodell, C.L., White, M., Lockett, C. et al. Self-Reported Gluten Intolerance Is Prevalent, but Not All Gluten-Containing Foods Are Equal. Dig Dis Sci 68, 1364–1368 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-022-07800-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-022-07800-5

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