April Newsletter - News

News | Research | Project updates | Upcoming events

Join CD-MEDICS Friends

Coeliac Disease Management Monitoring and Diagnosis using Biosensors and an Integrated Chip System (CD-MEDICS) IP project aims to support accurate and reliable diagnosis.

The CD-MEDICS IP project started on 1st February 2008 and is set to run for a period of 4 years. It is sponsored under the EU Framework 7 programme to 9.5 million Euros and has 20 partners from 10 countries currently participating. The aim of CD-MEDICS is to provide a practical diagnosis tool that can be presented at point of care (e.g. a doctor's surgery) and can allow healthcare professionals to proactively investigate and manage coeliac disease.

In the January 2009 edition of Professional eXG we discussed coeliac UK's involvement in supporting a training module, as part of the EU-wide CD-MEDICS project, aimed at providing an avenue of continuing education for healthcare professionals and patients.

CD-MEDICS have a friend's site where they provide information on CD-MEDICS results, activities and other coeliac disease-related news. People who subscribe receive the public newsletter, email notifications of public conferences and seminars where CD-MEDICS are presenting, and notification of news within CD-MEDICS. This is a great way of finding out more information about the project.

Join now by accessing the website

NICE Guideline on Coeliac Disease

The consultation period for the NICE guideline on the management of coeliac disease was completed at the end of February and the expected date for launch and implementation is in May 2009.

The NICE guidelines provide best practise advice on the care of adults and children with symptoms and/or signs suggestive of coeliac disease. This means the guidelines will only cover the recognition and diagnosis of coeliac disease.

The guideline is aimed at primary and secondary care.

For more information view the NICE website

New Codex Standard

The new law for food labeling has been published. There is a three year period for manufacturers to ensure that their labels meet the new legislations.

Naturally gluten free foods (baked beans, soups), substitute foods (with or without codex wheat starch) and uncontaminated oat products containing less than 20ppm (parts per million) may be labelled as 'gluten free'. Substitute products (breads and flour mixes) containing 20-100ppm will be labelled as 'very low gluten.'

We have composed some frequently asked questions on the new standard. To access this information click here .