A scientific Working Group on Gluten set up under the auspices of the Additives, Contaminants and Residues Sub-committee of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s Scientific Committee, has advised the Authority on issues of relevance to the coeliac condition, including the gluten-free diet, its nutritional quality and the need for Irish standards for levels of gluten in food suitable for people who are intolerant to gluten. The Working Group on Gluten concluded that the coeliac condition is a potentially significant cause of poor health in the Irish population, with a prevalence of five to ten cases per 1,000 of the adult population.Adverse health effects in affected persons can be controlled by strict adherence to a gluten-free1 diet or one that is low in gluten due to use of cereal ingredients that have been rendered gluten-free. Nonetheless, unintended exposure may occur as a consequence of the presence of gluten in foods believed by the consumer to be gluten-free or low in gluten, due to cross contamination during production or manufacture. It is therefore essential to maintain an ongoing programme of surveillance of such foods. The Working Group reviewed currently available analytical techniques for gluten in food and noted that these appear to present improved alternatives to the method laid down in the out-dated 1983 Codex Standard for gluten-free food.There are limitations to the use of this standard in assessing compliance of a food product with food safety legislation, and a new Codex Standard has recently been agreed by the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU), at its 2007 meeting.This will be forwarded at Step 8 to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption in 2008.This Codex Standard, together with other developments at international level, has been taken into account in making recommendations for guidance values for levels of gluten in food suitable for people who are intolerant to gluten.