So-called gluten-free products that are imported from overseas are not free of the proteins after all, with WA researchers finding it in 14 per cent of products tested.

Australians standards require products labelled gluten-free to contain no detectable gluten.

However, international food codes only require foods to contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia tested the gluten content of 169 gluten-free labelled foods from around the world, finding gluten in 24 of the products.

Fortunately the gluten levels were very low, with the maximum amount being 1.1 part per million.

That meant people with coeliac disease would have been able to safely eat those products, UWA Clinical Professor Geoff Forbes said.

“Despite tiny traces of gluten being found in 14 per cent of the foods tested, coeliac disease patients can confidently consume gluten-free products purchased in Australia,” he said.

“A marked tightening of international gluten-free standards is readily achievable by industry.”

He recommended Australian authorities revise the current national standard of no detectable gluten, to one ppm or less, as it was not practical or reasonable for industry to comply with the current standard.