Blue cheese

[Barbara rothwell]

Question: Is it safe to eat blue cheese on a gluten-free diet?

Until recently blue cheese has been classified as a food to avoid on gluten-free diets. Understandably so - traditionally the milk used to make blue cheese has been, and still is, inoculated with mold spores grown on breads or cultures that contain gluten.

So how can blue cheese be safe to add to your gluten-free diet? Read the evidence and you decide.

Answer:

Alexandria Anca, MHSc., RD, Advisor to the Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) Professional Advisory Board has written a revealing article in CCA "Celiac News" entitled Blue Cheese in the Gluten-Free Diet - A Research Update that should put to rest our perceptions that blue cheese is unsafe to eat on gluten-free diets.

Other names for blue cheese include Roquefort (French,) Stilton (English,) Gorgonzola (Italian.) Blue cheese can be made from cow, sheep and goat milk.

From the research analysis:

• Analysis of blue cheese samples conducted by "Dr. Terry Koerner's laboratory in the Food Research Division at Health Canada. Three different commercial ELISA test kits were used."
• 5 blue cheese / mold samples tested: 3 blue cheese samples made with mold cultured on gluten-containing media, two samples of mold cultured on wheat-based dextrose.
• Results: Each sample was tested 3 times, using each of the 3 ELISA tests.
• No detectable levels of gluten were found in any of the samples.

The Canadian Celiac Association has added blue cheese to its' Acceptability of Food and Food Ingredients for the Gluten-Free Diet pocket dictionary."

 

Celiac News

Volume 23, Issue 1 March 2009

Canadian Celiac Association

L’Association canadienne de la maladie coeliaque

Mission Statement

The Canadian Celiac Association is

a national organization dedicated

to providing services and support

to persons with celiac disease and

dermatitis herpetiformis through

programs of awareness, advocacy,

education and research.

Charitable Registration No. 10684 4244 RR0001

Enregistrement.

Inside This Issue

Blue Cheese in the GF Diet...... 1

Canadian Grocer Magazine...... 2

President’s Message................ 3

CCA Elections........................... 6

Celiac Disease & Non-Hodgkins

Lymphoma............................... 8

Annual Conference 2009.......... 9

Associate Member Program... 10

Executive Director’s Report... 11

Cost of Gluten-Free Food........ 13

Cheap & Cheerful Chickpeas.. 14

Celebrate Our Celiac

Community ........................... 16

In Memoriam.......................... 16

Blue Cheese in the gluten-free

diet – A research update

by Alex Anca, MHSc., RD and Advisor to the

CCA Professional Advisory Board

Blue cheese has always been a hot topic in the gluten-free

diet. A charming legend tells of a young shepherd watching

his sheep in the Roquefort-sur-Soulzon area of France. He was

resting near a cave, enjoying lunch of bread and ewe’s milk

cheese when a beautiful girl caught his eye. He quickly stowed

his meal in the cave and chased after his heart. A few months

later, he stumbled upon the abandoned bread and cheese.

Despite the mould and strong aroma, his hunger drove him to

bite into the cheese, discovering the delightful flavour of what

would one day become Roquefort, the unique blue cheese

made from the region’s specific mould,

Penicillium roqueforti.

This story has brought blue cheese to the forefront of the

debate amongst those who suffer from celiac disease – is it safe

for consumption or not?

Back in 1992, the second edition of the Canadian Celiac

Association’s Pocket Dictionary classified Blue Cheese as

“ALLOWED” in the gluten-free diet. The status was based on

Dr. J. A. Campbell’s research in late 1991. It revealed that even

though

P. roqueforti mould may be grown on gluten-containing

media, the harvesting and the amount of spores used to make

blue cheese (1 g of fungus added to 10,000 L of milk!) may

lead to a final gluten concentration well below the 20 parts per

million threshold.

(continued on page 3)

Because questions continued to arise about

blue cheese’s suitability in the gluten-free

diet, we decided to conduct a more in-depth

investigation in an attempt to clarify and

further understand the science behind blue

cheese.

Blue cheese is a classification of cow’s milk

or goat’s milk cheeses with green/bluish

mould. Varieties of internally mould-ripened,

hard-pressed cheeses include Stilton, Blue

Shropshire, Blue Cheshire, Blue Wensleydale,

Buton Blue, Blue Vinney, Danish Blue,

Roquefort and Gorgonzola

1. By international

agreement, Roquefort cheese must be

made from sheep milk, in the Roquefort

Valley of France, and ripened in naturally airconditioned,

high-humidity caves near the town

of Roquefort. Similarly, manufactured cheese

produced from cow’s milk in the United States

and other countries is called blue cheese2.

Blue cheese is usually made from a blend of

heat-treated (raw) or pasteurized skim milk

and homogenized cream. Spore suspensions

of Penicillium roqueforti are added to the vat

at the same time as the starter cultures. The

cheese contains no other ingredients except

the spores and natural milk components.

Spores of P. roqueforti may be harvested

from mould grown on mixed substrates: some

may be gluten-free, while others may contain

malt extract. For the latter type of media,

the fermentation process usually breaks

down gluten. Moreover, in order to multiply,

P. roqueforti

fungus uses the protein portion

of the media (i.e., gluten) to grow. Following

fermentation, the spores are collected and

the medium is discarded. Cultures (or spores)

are then diluted, based on manufacturer’s

specifications to 1:500,000 to 1:1,000,000

(where 1 unit is 1 g of P. Roqueforti culture).

This is equivalent to 1 g of mould in 500 to

1,000 L of milk.

In order to assess and quantify whether blue

cheese contains any residual amounts of

gluten, we sent three samples of blue cheese

that use mould grown in gluten-containing

media in addition to two samples of mould

culture grown on wheat-based dextrose.

The analysis was conducted by Dr. Terry

Koerner’s laboratory in the Food Research

Division at Health Canada. Three different

commercial ELISA test kits were used:

1. R-Biopharm sandwich ELISA test, with a Limit

of Detection of 1.5 parts per million and a Limit

of Quantification of 2.5 parts per million.

2. Tepnel sandwich ELISA test, with a Limit of

Detection of 1 part per million and a Limit of

Quantification of 3 parts per million.

3. R-Biopharm Competitive ELISA test which is

used to detect gluten protein fragments, such

as those produced from protein hydrolysis.

The results of the tests were as follows:

A. St. Benoit Blue Cheese: No detectable gluten

(all three kits). The manufacturer, L’Abbeille

St. Benoit du Lac, uses

P. Roqueforti mould

grown on media containing malt extract.

B. Roquefort Blue Cheese: No detectable gluten

(all three kits). The manufacturer, Roquefort

Société, uses

P. Roqueforti mould grown in a

medium containing rye and wheat flours.

C. Alexis de Portneuf Blue Cheese: No

detectable gluten (all three kits). The

manufacturer uses

P. Roqueforti mould grown

on gluten-containing media.

D. Two samples of P. Roqueforti moulds:

No detectable gluten (all three kits). The

mould and culture manufacturer uses wheatbased

dextrose in the fermentation medium.

However, this ingredient is considered safe

as the manufacturing process, separation and

purification techniques render it gluten-free

regardless of the source.

These results are considered accurate and

reliable since each product was tested three

times using the most sensitive gluten detection

tests available on the market. In addition,

you may consider that some manufacturers

of blue cheese, such as Rosenburg

®, provide

information on their websites about the use of

gluten-free mould cultures.

(cont. on page 5)

Blue Cheese (continued)

Blue Cheese (continued)

Based on the most sensitive tests currently

available on the market and our understanding

of the minute amounts of mould spores used

in the making of the cheese, we may conclude

that blue cheese is safe for consumption as

part of the gluten-free diet. In the future,

we may attempt to test more samples of

blue cheese in order to validate the results

described above.

I hope that the research outlined above will

put to rest the controversy surrounding blue

cheese and that patients with celiac disease

will enjoy the unique taste and sensory

experience it has to offer.

Alexandra Anca is the principal researcher

for the Canadian Celiac Association’s Pocket

Dictionary of Ingredients - Acceptability of

Foods & Food Ingredients for the Gluten-Free

Diet.

Footnotes:

1. Caballero B., Trugo C.L, Finglas P.M.,

Encyclopaedia of food sciences and nutrition.

Academic Press, Elsvier Science Ltd., ©2003

2. Marth E., Steel J., Applied Dairy Microbiology,

p. 358-360, Marcel Dekker Inc., C 2001

forums in order to bring back to you as much

information as possible on current research

and other developments in the celiac world.

It will also be an ideal opportunity for us to

make connections with celiac associations from

around the world and share information.

Closer to home but just as exciting is our

annual conference in May. Those of you who

have attended past conferences know that

there is nothing like it. The food is always

spectacular and plentiful. The exhibitors enjoy

meeting and talking with their customers.

Renowned scientists come from around the

world and actually talk to us. It is an intense

and rewarding experience for all of us who

take an active role in managing our own

or a loved one’s health to learn together

in an atmosphere of mutual support and

camaraderie. I hope to be able to say hello

in person to as many of you as possible at

Celebrating our Celiac Community in Waterloo,

Ontario, starting on May 29th. See you there!

Janet Dalziel

CCA President

President’s Message (continued)

We’re looking for

your help!

Are you interested in contributing towards

increased understanding and control of

celiac disease?

You might have recently read about a new,

natural food product being developed for

celiacs (‘Discovery offers hope for celiac

sufferers’ – National Post & Edmonton

Journal, January 7, 2009.) My team is

conducting a web-based survey asking

about your current dietary lifestyle habits,

and your preferences for this product – a

natural food supplement expected to enable

you to manage gluten-related symptoms

more effectively.

The survey takes about 30 minutes to

complete. You’ll receive a $5 Amazon

voucher for participation, and you’ll be put

on an email list that informs you about the

progress of this study. For more background

and to complete the survey log on at

www.celiac.ales.ualberta.ca

.

Thanks for your support!

Bodo Steiner, Principal Investigator

University of Alberta.

 Barbara Rothwell