Breakthroughs Today

We talked last week of how oat needs to be understood well by knowing its potential side effect--celiac disease. Here's another example on why we should be normally cautious even when dealing with familiar natural foods. SOMETIMES it is more helpful to know how things can go wrong. It covers your downside. In health, downsides can be as worse as terminal illness or even death. You learned of the silent threat waged by the avenin in oatmeal. This week you will know that avenin is not that bad in comparison to another naturally occurring protein in foodstuff. That protein is gliadin. And it is found in wheat. Yes, wheat, that very same cereal you find in wheat bread, wheat flour, and even certain cereals consumed by kids. Like avenin, gliadin is a gluten protein. But it is at least 40- to 400-fold more immunogenic in triggering the appearance of celiac disease in predisposed persons. According to the Celiac Sprue Association, USA, celiac is an autoimmune disorder of the small i

ZOSIMO T. LITERATUS, RMT Two outbreaks of petfood-associated renal failure occurred in 2004 (involving around 6,000 dogs and a smaller number of cats) and 2007 (involving a large number of dogs and cats in North America). In 2004, the outbreak was linked to the ingestion of specific commercial dog foods, and occurred in dogs from Asia. Health authorities attributed it to poisonous compounds (particularly ochratoxin, citrinin, or both) that contaminated raw materials in a manufacturing plant in Thailand. In 2007, on the heel of another renal failure outbreak associated with pet foods, North American health authorities identified the toxic compounds as melamine and cyanuric acid; both are present in wheat gluten, rice protein, and corn gluten imported from China and used as a pet food ingredient. Able to elevate falsely the measure of protein content in pet foods because of its high nitrogen content, melamine was presumed to have been intentionally added by suppliers in China. Two studie