For the general American population, adopting a gluten‐free diet is becoming an increasingly popular solution to numerous health problems, stated Pam Cureton, RD, LDN in a presentation at the Food Marketing Institute's (FMI) 2012 Health and Wellness Conference, held in April in Orlando, Fla.Cureton is with the Center for Celiac Research based at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine.
Cureton noted that the market for gluten‐free food and beverage products grew at a compound annual growthrate of 28% from 2004-2008. Packaged Facts reported that sales in the U.S. were $1.6 billion in 2008 and projects this to increase to $2.6 billion in 2012 and to over $5 billion by 2015.