Kebari-Video-Grabs-Larkin-Howitt

[Image changes to show Dr Phil Larkin]

Dr Phil Larkin:  Kebari is a world first, a barley where the gluten has been reduced so much that we had to invent some new methods to actually measure it.  The level of gluten in this grain is 10,000, more than 10,000 times less than regular barley.

In Germany the production of beer is regulated by the German Beer Purity Law, the Reinheitsgebot, which basically says that a beer can have nothing in it other than water, barley, hops, and yeast.  Using Kebari the brewer, Radeberger, is releasing the beer they’re calling Pionier, which is the world’s first true barley gluten free beer.  And that’s a fitting tribute to the law, because this happens to be the 500^th anniversary of the issuing of that law – fantastic celebration of both tradition and innovation.

We’ve named this new quite remarkable barley Kebari, and we’ve done that in recognition of an extraordinary fairly recent archaeological discovery near the Sea of Galilee.  Twenty-three thousand years ago there’s a community there, which we now call the Kebaran, that were growing and harvesting and processing barley.  So in recognition of that extraordinary community we’ve named the barley Kebari.

[Image changes to show Dr Crispin Howitt]

Dr Crispin Howitt:  Using conventional breeding, a technique that farmers and breeders have used for hundreds of years, we’ve dramatically reduced the gluten content in this grain.  The first version is a malting barley to be used for products like Milo and beer.  Coming behind that are whole grain versions for food products, such as breakfast cereals, flat breads, and pasta.

We’ve developed, using conventional breeding, the world’s first and only gluten free barley.  This will provide exciting new dietary options for people like Coeliac’s who avoid gluten and traditionally have diets that are low in fibre and high in fats and sugar.

[Image changes back to Dr Phil Larkin]