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Oats are a controversal subject. Many people who have Celiac Sprue or are gluten intolerant have had reactions to oats so it was thought that oats themselves were the problem. In reality, it is contamination of oats that is the culprit. Gluten Free Living conducted a test of various commercial oats and found they all were contaminated to some degree with wheat/gluten.
Oats as an agricultural crop are often grown on the same fields or in the same area as wheat, barley, and/or rye. This makes contimation starting in the field and continuing with the harvesting equipment and into the processing plants fairly common.
Many celiacs can eat non-contaminated oats. There may, however, also exist a sub-set of celiacs who also have avenin-reactive mucosal T-cells, avenin being the oat counterpart to wheat’s gliadin who cannot tolerate oats.
Recently, a few companies have taken on the challenge of growing oats free of gluten contamination. Madwoman Foods uses gluten-free certified oats from Gluten Free Oats in Wyoming.