Oats (Avena) belongs to the family of sweet grasses. Oats were likely farmed by the Teutons and Celts 2,000 BC. In Northern and Central Europe it has served as a staple food for large parts of the population for almost two millennia. Oats were mostly consumed as mash or porridge. As it has a very small gluten content, oats are not suited to bread making. At the start of the 19th century, it was replaced on the dinner table by rye, wheat and potatoes.
Ingredients
Today's extensive use of oats is due to two significant components: the resilience of oats, which is why it thrives even in poor soil, and simultaneously its richness of nutrients. Alongside valuable protein and vegetable fat oats are characterised by their content of biotin, various vitamins, iron, magnesium, zinc and roughage.
Low-gluten cereal
Oats are not 100% gluten-free, but very low in gluten and can mostly be well-tolerated by those affected by coeliac disease. What's important is that during oat cultivation the oats are not "contaminated" with other types of cereal containing gluten. People with coeliac disease should therefore look out for oat products declared as "gluten-free". These are guaranteed to contain less than 20 ppm* gluten and are therefore in an acceptable range for those affected by coeliac disease.
*20 ppm = 2 milligrams of gluten per 100 grams of foodstuff
