Gluten-free, often taste-free

CHICAGO, July 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. market for gluten-free products is booming, but researchers are still challenged to make the products taste good.

An estimated 2 million Americans are afflicted with celiac disease, an intolerance for food containing wheat, so there is a demand for gluten-free products, and the number of people with celiac disease has risen.

"Until recently, we thought it was a rare disease, but that's not so; we found that 1 out of 133 in the United States had it," said Ranjit Kadan, a researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"There is clearly a market opportunity for gluten-free foods," Jodi Engelson, a senior research scientist at Cargill, told the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting & Food Expo in Chicago.

"For the patients who suffer, the diagnosis rate is increasing. In response to this, we have witnessed over a 100 percent increase in gluten-free products over the last seven years."

Wheat is more easily replaced in products like sauces but more difficult in baked goods like bread and cookies because the products suffer in terms of texture and shelf life.