Lamb rennet pastes were prepared by the procedure most commonly used by Idiazabal cheese manufacturers. We studied the effects on their coagulating and lipolytic activities of the state of the stomach at the time of death (full of milk or empty), the amount of NaCl added, the origin of the lambs and paste storage time. Coagulating activities were generally between 155 and 363 units/g tissue. Pastes prepared from stomachs of lambs from slaughterhouse flocks had significantly higher coagulating activities than those of lambs from separate flocks. No significant decrease in coagulating activity was observed after 1 year storage at 4 °C. Chymosin represented 75–80% of the total coagulating activity with the remainder being pepsin. Rennet paste extracts with pH < 4·7 did not have increased coagulating activities when their pH was lowered to 2·0, while those with pH > 5·2 had activities 1·5-fold those before treatment. Lipase activity was higher in extracts of rennet pastes prepared using the stomachs of lambs that arrived at the slaughterhouse in the morning just prior to slaughter than in those prepared with the stomachs of lambs that had arrived on the previous evening. However, the reverse was the case for esterase activity. Activating the coagulating activity by pH cycling completely destroyed both lipolytic activities. Storage at 4 °C for > 1 year did not affect esterase activity but lipase activity decreased substantially after 4–5 months. Lipase, but not esterase, activity was responsible for the liberation of short-chain free fatty acids from ovine milk fat.

The purpose of the present work was both to analyze composition of Spanish celiac women and to study the food habits and gluten-free diet of these celiac patients, in order to determine whether they achieve a balanced and healthy diet as well as to highlight nutritional qualitative and/or quantitative differences. 54 adult celiac women (34 ± 13 years) took part in the six-month study. Height, weight and body composition were measured. An analysis of energy consumption and of the macronutrient distribution of their diet was carried out. Their fulfillment of micronutrient intake recommendations was verified. Participants showed a Body Mass Index of 21.6 ± 2.4 kg/m². Energy Intake was slightly lower than the Dietary Reference Intakes. Excessive protein apart from over-consumption of fat was observed. More than three quarters of participants consumed meat in excess. Carbohydrate consumption along with that of fiber was below recommended levels. Vitamin D, iron, and iodine had a low percentage of recommendation compliance. In general, participants followed the recommendations of dairy products and fruit intake whereas vegetable consumption was not enough for the vast majority. We conclude that although the diet of celiac women does not differ much from the diet of general population, some considerations, such as reducing fat and protein consumption and increasing fiber intake, must be taken into account.

The treatment of Celiac disease consists in a strict lifelong gluten-free (GF) diet. As the ingestion of small amounts can have damaging complications, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding the safe threshold for dietary residual gluten. The aim was to analyze the evolution of gluten content in cereal-based GF foodstuffs (n = 3141) from 1998 to 2016 measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Eight categories were defined: flours, breakfast cereals/bars, bakery, pasta, breads, dough, snacks, and yeasts, and these were divided into GF labeled-foods (GF-L) or reportedly GF foodstuffs, but not certified (GF-NC). Gluten-detection was decreased over time in line with the evolving European regulations about food information and gluten content claims. This decline started sooner in GF-L products than in GF-NC. As a whole, gluten was detected in 371 samples, with breakfast cereals/bars being the most contaminated group. Snacks and yeasts changed from being high gluten-detected samples to being totally GF over the years. The downside is that, of contaminated samples, those in the low levels of gluten detection range have decreased while flour samples containing over 100 mg/kg gluten have risen in the 2013–2016 period. Obtained data confirm that GF cereal-based foods are becoming safer but gluten control must be maintained.