In a world-first, Australian scientists have managed to make one of the nation’s favourite drinks gluten-free.
CSIRO’s Kebari barley has been used to create the world’s first commercially produced, full flavoured, barley-based gluten-free beer.
The drink will not be available in Australia however, instead launching in Germany.
The beer’s base (Kebari barley) meets World Health Organisation standards of gluten-free, but it does not meet Australian standards.
“Normal barley has a level of about 50,000 parts per million of what are called hordines, which is the gluten equivalent in barley,” said CSIRO director Lionel Henderson in a comment to the ABC.
“We’ve been successful in being able to drop the level in the Kebari barley back to between four and five parts per million.”
According to Australian standards however, a product must have zero detectable gluten before it can be labelled ‘gluten-free’.
“Whilst we are growing the grain in Australia, our initial key markets will be in export to other countries where they have adopted the WHO guidelines of under 20 parts per million,” said Henderson.