What is the Difference Between Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, and Gluten Allergy?

Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, and Gluten Allergy often get mixed up and thrown altogether. Though any person who has either needs to follow a gluten-free diet their reasons for doing so would be different. With all the news and noise about the gluten-free diet it can get confusing for those trying to understand it.

At the american Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, we came across the most short and sweet to the point differentiation of the three we wanted to share it with you today. In summary, gluten intolerance affects the way people digest foods containing gluten, gluten allergy is an allergic reaction to these foods that can be a serious as a peanut allergy and Celiac Disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder that means the person cannot digest gluten at all and when exposed to it, it damages the intestine.

Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, and Gluten Allergy Defined

Food intolerances such as gluten involve the digestive system. With a food allergy, the immune system overreacts to a particular food causing symptoms that are potentially serious or even live threatening. Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that can damage the small intestine. Source

From this you can understand fully why cross contamination would be an issue. Multimillion dollar food companies (like Domino’s Pizza )with huge budgets need to be on top of this as much as the small family run business if they are going to call anything they do gluten-free. There will certainly be customers living with Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, and Gluten Allergy who would be eating those foods said to be gluten-free.

Please share this to help build the awareness for those you love who may be impacted by improper labelling of gluten-free.