New research has debunked the myth that all early varieties of wheat were less allergenic than the varieties grown on Australian farms today.
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Charles Sturt University PhD candidate Mr Chris Florides has investigated 170 wheat varieties as part of his research through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Centre for Functional Grains (FGC).
"Wheat allergies or gluten intolerance has become a key talking point, not only for people who have diagnosed allergies or consumers who eat gluten-free, but also for wheat breeders," Mr Florides said. "If you search the internet or social media, there's a lot of speculation that early wheat varieties were not immunogenic and that modern genetic techniques have created wheat varieties that are more allergenic.
"My research examined the allergenicity of wheat varieties grown in Australia from 1860 to 2015, including some original varieties brought from England that were bred to suit Australian conditions.