The 16th Meeting of the Working Group on Prolamin Analysis and Toxicity (PWG) took place at the Hotel Meliá Gran Sitges (Spain) from November 8 to 11, 2001. The sponsor and host, Celíacs de Catalunya (Matilde Torralba and Montse Espadaler), welcomed the group, the invited speakers and participants from the industrial sector such as producers of gluten-free food and companies manufacturing kits for gluten analysis. International and national coeliac societies and representatives from the starch-producing industry were present. That we are now closer to reaching definitive results in gluten analysis was evident after the presentation of refined non-immunological and immunological methods for the determination of gluten. The new reference preparation, "PWG gliadin", intro- duced by PWG in 2001, has already been successfully used by many researchers. The final PWG collaborative study is being prepared by Dr. Méndez‘s group (Madrid, Spain). Definitive results will be presented to the Codex Alimentarius committee in 2002. The clinical reports focused on genetics and immune reactions to the auto-antigen in coeliac disease, tissue transglutaminase. The symposium "Gluten-free diet in real life" described the patients‘ perspectives and included lively discussions involving scientists, physicians and industrial representatives. The PWG consensus paper "Analysis and clinical effects of gluten in coeliac disease" has meanwhile been published (Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 13:741-747, 2001). I am very grateful to all participants for their active contribution. I am especially grateful to Celíacs de Catalunya for their extensive efforts and enthusiasm which ensured that the meeting was effective and the atmosphere remained friendly. I express my gratitude towards all friends and sponsors who made the meeting possible. weiterlesen