Are Some Beers Actually Gluten-Free? This Research Says Otherwise

ELISA’s issue in checking gluten-reduced beers is recognizing fragments of gluten. Regardless if the gluten proteins are cut down using enzymes or by doing other processes during fermentation, the antibodies they use cannot thoroughly distinguish those smaller bits. This is why the new research proposes that the gluten-removed beers they approve may still cause an immune response in people with gluten-sensitivity and celiac disease.

Colgrave’s experiments demonstrate that the beers being tested had been categorized by their makers to have gluten amounts of below 20 mg per kilogram of beer based on ELISA. However, it was also detected that there are gluten fragments in those beers using the LC-MS method. In fact, most even have higher levels of gluten.