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. 2023 Apr;68(4):1364-1368.
doi: 10.1007/s10620-022-07800-5. Epub 2023 Jan 20.

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

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

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

Claire L Jansson-Knodell et al. Dig Dis Sci. 2023 Apr.

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.

Keywords: Food intolerance; Food sensitivity; Gluten; Prevalence; Survey; Wheat.

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References

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