A typical wafer weighs about half a gram. Wheat flour contains around 10 to 13% gluten, so a single communion wafer may have more than 50 mg of gluten, an amount that harms many people with coeliac, especially if consumed every day (see Diet above). Many Christian churches offer their communicants gluten-free alternatives, usually in the form of a rice-based cracker or gluten-free bread. These include the United Methodist, Christian Reformed, Episcopal, the Anglican Church (Church of England, UK) and Lutheran. Catholics may receive from the Chalice alone, or ask for gluten-reduced hosts; gluten-free ones however are not considered to still be wheat bread and hence invalid matter. Roman Catholic position
Roman Catholic doctrine states that for a valid Eucharist, the bread to be used at Mass must be made from wheat. Low-gluten hosts meet all of the Catholic Churchs requirements, but they are not entirely gluten free. Requests to use rice wafers have been denied.The issue is more complex for priests. As a celebrant, a priest is, for the fullness of the sacrifice of the Mass, absolutely required to receive under both species. On 24 July 2003, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated, "Given the centrality of the celebration of the Eucharist in the life of a priest, one must proceed with great caution before admitting to Holy Orders those candidates unable to ingest gluten or alcohol without serious harm. "By January 2004, extremely low-gluten Church-approved hosts had become available in the United States, Italy and Australia.
As of July 2017, the Vatican still outlawed the use of gluten-free bread for Holy Communion. Passover
The Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) may present problems with its obligation to eat matzo, which is unleavened bread made in a strictly controlled manner from wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye. This rules out many other grains that are normally used as substitutes for people with gluten sensitivity, especially for Ashkenazi Jews, who also avoid rice. Many kosher-for-Passover products avoid grains altogether and are therefore gluten-free. Potato starch is the primary starch used to replace the grains. Spelling
Coeliac disease is the preferred spelling in British English, while celiac disease is typically used in North American English. Research directions
The search for environmental factors that could be responsible for genetically susceptible people becoming intolerant to gluten has resulted in increasing research activity looking at gastrointestinal infections. Research published in April 2017 suggests that an often-symptomless infection by a common strain of reovirus can increase sensitivity to foods such as gluten.Various treatment approaches are being studied, including some that would reduce the need for dieting. All are still under development, and are not expected to be available to the general public for a while.Three main approaches have been proposed as new therapeutic modalities for coeliac disease: gluten detoxification, modulation of the intestinal permeability, and modulation of the immune response.Using genetically engineered wheat species, or wheat species that have been selectively bred to be minimally immunogenic, may allow the consumption of wheat.