These are our delicious lactation cookies - oh my goodness they are just so yummy! We also offer a gluten-oat free cookie option and we promise they are equally as scrumptious!

We have decided to keep our gluten free menu items oat free also. Our good friend and coeliac expert Holly Arnold (BHSc Clinical Nutritionist @hollyarnold_nutrition) explains why below…

“Gluten collectively describes the protein components of wheat, rye, barley and oats. For people with coeliac disease, ingestion of these proteins results in an immune reaction. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣The gluten protein in oats is a slightly different protein to the proteins found in wheat, rye and barley, which is where there is often some confusion. While the protein in oats is slightly different, it is still a gluten derivative and therefore oats can’t ever be truly free of gluten.⁣⁣

⁣⁣There are different rules all around the world when it comes to oats and gluten-free labelling, but in Australia, it is against the law to label any products containing oats as ‘gluten-free’. However, in other countries such as the UK, pure, uncontaminated oats can be labelled as ‘gluten-free’. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣Anyone diagnosed with Coeliac Disease is informed to not eat any oats. However, as the gluten protein in oats is slightly different, it has been shown that only 1 in 5 people with Coeliac Disease reacts to oats in the way they do to other gluten-containing grains. Meaning that the majority of those with Coeliac Disease can tolerate pure, uncontaminated oats. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣So how do you work out if you are the type of Coeliac that can tolerate oats?⁣

⁣⁣Currently, the only way to determine if a Coeliac doesn’t react to oats is to do a series of tests that involve the following steps: a small intestine biopsy, approximately 12 weeks consuming around 50g of oats per day, then another small intestine biopsy to assess if the oats have done any damage. If there’s damage it’s no oats for you, and if there is no damage you are cleared to consume pure, uncontaminated oats.⁣⁣

⁣⁣Are you a Coeliac that eat oats but doesn’t have any symptoms? Even though you don’t present with symptoms, it is still possible the oats are causing intestinal damage and therefore you must either avoid them completely or get tested. ⁣⁣

⁣⁣Pure, uncontaminated oats are oats that have been grown and processed on farms that don't rotate crops with other gluten-containing grains and pack/process their oats on premises that are 100% free of contamination with other gluten-containing grains.”