News Discussion

Rice Flour Gains Ground as Versatile Wheat-Free Alternative

People with wheat allergies must avoid cakes and noodles made with wheat flour. Across Japan, rice-based alternatives are growing in popularity. Cakes and bread are especially popular, and rice-based udon is also being developed.

One café offering a wide range of rice-flour sweets is Comeconoco Gluten-Free Laboratory & Cafe in Osaka City. This popular pastry shop offers strawberry cream tarts, cream puffs, and other desserts, all made exclusively with rice flour.

The cream puffs have a light, crispy shell, and the tarts are rich and flavorful — so much so that customers would not realize they are made with rice flour unless told. The bread offers a similar experience: when toasted, it becomes soft and fluffy, with a taste that is slightly lighter than wheat-based bread.

The café was opened in February 2019 by Yukiko Nakajima, who previously worked at a Western-style confectionery. She says she wanted to "create sweets that incorporate Japanese elements." According to Nakajima, almost all Western-style pastries can be made using rice flour.

Birthday cakes make up a large share of the shop's demand, and many overseas customers also visit. This is partly because people of European and American ancestry are more likely than Japanese people to have hereditary conditions such as celiac disease. In such cases, gluten, a protein found in wheat, can cause symptoms like abdominal pain.

By highlighting its gluten-free offerings, the shop has gained the trust of travelers as well as staff from international pavilions during Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.

"I'm so happy that people feel that they can trust our shop," Nakajima says with a smile. As rice flour becomes more widely used, she adds that quality will matter more than ever and that the shop will continue to improve its products.

Rice-flour initiatives are also emerging in other forms. In the summer of 2023, the Osaka Eastern Agricultural Cooperative (JA Osaka Tobu), which oversees the cities of Daito and Shijonawate in eastern Osaka Prefecture, developed gluten-free rice-flour udon as a new regional specialty.

The project aims to promote locally produced rice, the area's main agricultural product, by expanding the use of rice flour. Made from the Hinohikari rice variety, the noodles have a firm texture and a refreshing, light taste that sets them apart from wheat-based udon. "The Kansai region has a strong udon culture," says Masuyuki Tonoya, the cooperative's president and the driving force behind the project.

Due to cost issues, the noodles are not yet sold commercially and are currently offered as samples. However, serving them at the Expo and donating them to local social welfare organizations has increased awareness.

Feedback has included comments such as, "People with allergies can eat this with peace of mind," and "My grandchild usually avoids udon but enjoyed it."

Looking ahead, Tonoya says, "We want to further popularize rice-flour udon and explore its use in pasta, somen noodles, and other products."

According to the agriculture ministry, consumption increased from about 5,000 tons in fiscal 2009 to roughly 25,000 tons in fiscal 2013. After remaining relatively stable through 2017, demand rose to about 31,000 tons in 2018 and approximately 36,000 tons in 2019 and 2020. By fiscal 2024, consumption reached around 56,000 tons, and it is estimated to have risen to about 62,000 tons in fiscal 2025.

Rice flour has long been used in traditional Japanese sweets such as kashiwa-mochi and dumplings. As rice consumption declined, private-sector initiatives promoted rice flour as a domestic alternative to imported wheat.

In recent years, gluten-free diets and efforts to address wheat allergies have attracted growing attention. Advances in product development by milling companies, increased consumer awareness, and the registration of rice varieties suitable for bread-making have all supported this trend. Reflecting these developments, the ministry's grains division says that demand for rice flour is showing steady growth.

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1. 1. What kind of café is introduced in the article?
2. 2. How did both the café and JA Osaka Tobu introduce their products to the public?
3. 3. What reasons are given for the growth in rice flour demand?
4. 4. How might food trends change when diets become more diverse?
5. 5. What role should local agriculture play in developing new food products?

小麦アレルギーのためケーキやうどんが食べられない。そんな人でも楽しめる米粉を使った食品が各地で広がりをみせている。ケーキやパンが人気を集め、うどんの販売を模索する動きもある。新たな食材として注目され、米粉の消費量も増加している。

大阪市中央区の「Comeconoco Gluten－free Laboratory＆Cafe」。ショーケースには「いちごのクリームタルト」やシュークリームなど多彩なケーキ類が並ぶ。「まちの人気菓子店」だが、商品の原料がすべて米粉という点がこの店の特徴だ。

シュークリームは皮がサクサクしており、タルトの濃厚な味わいも「米粉で作った」と教えられなければ分からない。パンも同様で、トーストはふっくらと焼き上がり「小麦粉のパンより少しあっさりした味わい」という印象を受ける。

洋菓子店に勤務していた中島由起子さん（41）が「日本らしい要素を取り入れた菓子を作りたい」と平成31年2月に開業。中島さんは「洋菓子店で扱うお菓子は、ほぼすべて米粉で作れます」と説明する。

店では誕生日ケーキの需要が多い。小麦アレルギーに悩む人のほか海外の人もよく利用する。欧米人は、小麦粉由来のタンパク質の一種「グルテン」が原因で腹痛などの症状を起こす遺伝性疾患が、日本人と比べて多く発症するからだという。

「グルテンフリー」を打ち出す同店は、旅行者だけでなく、昨年の大阪・関西万博期間中は各国パビリオンスタッフらもよく利用した。中島さんは「『この店なら大丈夫』という信頼を得られたことは本当にうれしい」と笑顔。米粉が以前よりも普及した点を踏まえ「今後は、各店のクオリティーが問われる。よりいっそう良い商品づくりを目指したい」と語る。

米粉を使った新たな試みも進む。大阪府東部の大東、四條畷の2市を所管する大阪東部農業協同組合（JA大阪東部、本店＝大東市）は令和5年夏、地域の新特産品として「グルテンフリー米粉うどん」を完成させた。

パン作りに適したコメも品種登録された。こうした動きから、同省穀物課は「米粉の需要量は堅調に推移している」との見方を示している。

地域の主力生産品であるコメのPRと、米粉の消費拡大を目指した取り組み。ヒノヒカリを原料とし、コシも十分ある。小麦粉のうどんとは違う「さわやかであっさりとした味わい」が特徴。うどんを選んだ理由は「関西は『うどん文化』だから」と、仕掛け人で代表理事組合長の戸野谷益之さん（67）は言う。

米粉価格の関係から販売はしておらず試供の段階だが、万博で提供したり、地元の社会福祉協議会に寄付したりすることで認知度はアップ。「アレルギーの人も安心して食べられる」「普段はうどんを食べない孫が食べてくれた」などの反応が寄せられている。

戸野谷さんは将来の販売を見据えながら「米粉うどんをさらに普及させ、パスタやそうめんなどへの活用も考えたい」と強調した。

米粉の人気は高まっている。農林水産省によると、需要量は平成21年度の約5千トンから25年度は約2万5千トンに増加。26年度～29年度は約2万2千～約2万5千トンで推移したが、30年度は約3万1千トン、令和元年度と2年度は約3万6千トンとなり、6年度には約5万6千トンに。7年度は約6万2千トンを見込んでいる。

国内では古くから、米粉が柏餅や団子といった和菓子類の材料に使われてきた。「輸入小麦に代わるもの」として、消費減が続く米の生産拡大につなげようと、民間で普及促進活動が展開されてきた経緯がある。

近年では、小麦アレルギー対策も含めた「グルテンフリー」などの食スタイルが注目され、ニーズが高まった。製粉メーカーによる商品開発などが進み、消費者の認知度も向上。