Guide to Avoiding Foods Containing Gluten

Gluten is present in many grains and starches, as shown in the following table:

Contains Gluten			Gluten-free
Wheat Wheat germ Wheat grass Rye Barley Bulgur Couscous Farina Graham flour	Kamut Matzo Seitan Semolina Spelt Triticale Oats* Oat bran* Oat fiber*		Amaranth Rice Corn Soy Potato Quinoa Tapioca Tef Beans	Flax Garfava Sorghum Millet Buckwheat Arrowroot Nut flours

* controversial due to contamination

Beer is made from grains and thereby contains gluten.  Most other alcohols such as scotch, rye, and vodkas while made from grains that are glutinous, are distilled, which removes the gluten thereby making them safe to consume.  Do keep in mind that alcohol when mixed with gluten in food in the sensitive individual, seems to magnify the reaction and therefore should be avoided.  Further, many patients who have celiac disease or who are gluten sensitive have intestinal infections that creates a poor reaction to alcohol. 

The key to understanding the gluten-free diet is to become a good ingredient label reader.  Foods with labels that list the following ingredients are questionable and should NOT be consumed unless you can verify they do not contain or are not derived from prohibited grains.  Remember you need to be gluten-free, not just wheat-free.  In the past, many products said they were gluten-free while having questionable ingredients. Today's labelling laws have made that a distant memory fortunately. The biggest problems patients run into is "thinking" that a product "shouldn't" contain gluten and thereby failing to read the label.  Don't be fooled and compromise your health - always read the ingredient list carefully.  If in doubt, write to the company on-line.  Most companies are very forthcoming with such information.

• Blue Cheese - check with the company; many are fine but not all.
• Bran
• Brown Rice Syrup (frequently made from barley)
• Caramel Color (infrequently made from barley)
• Dextrin (usually corn but may be derived from wheat)
• Dry roasted nuts - processing agents may contain wheat
• Emergen-C in raspberry and mixed berry flavors only, the other flavors are fine.
• Flour or Cereal Products
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Vegetable Protein, Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP), Hydrolyzed Soy Protein or Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)- label will say "wheat"
• Malt or Malt Flavoring (usually made from barley)
• Malt Vinegar
• Modified Food Starch- label will say "wheat"
• Ricola cough drops
• Starch- label will say "wheat"
• Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids - wheat-free is available

Soy is considered an acceptable food for those who are gluten sensitive.  Traditional soy foods such as tofu, edamame, soy pods and some types of miso and tempeh are gluten-free.  Do read the label as grains or wheat-containing soy sauce can be added to miso and tempeh.

Unfortunately soy has some negative characteristics.  Soy foods are frequently genetically engineered plus are one of the most common sources of hidden gluten.  Seitan and most soy-based veggie burgers contain "vital wheat gluten" - the ingredient that gives these foods the texture and taste of meat. Soy sauce contains wheat and many Asian dishes have added soy sauce. Wheat-free tamari is available however for when you cook at home.

Further, despite being gluten-free, soy beans often provoke digestive bloating, gas and allergic symptoms.  This may be a true allergy or an intolerance created by genetic engineering.  Evaluate your tolerance to soy and if acceptable choose high-quality organic products (preferable fermented) and eat them in moderation.

Oats can be an area of confusion when trying to avoid gluten.  Many companies are advertising oats as gluten-free.   And there are some gluten free societies which will get quite impassioned when defending their ability to eat oats.  Others don't recommend oats due to the problem of unacceptable levels of contamination.  Oat fields frequently have wheat or rye growing in them and therefore most oats, when assayed, show gluten contamination. And if the contamination doesn't happen in the fields then it occurs in transport or at the manufacturing facility.

While we all agree that oats has a different protein from wheat, rye and barley and is therefore not classically gluten, in practicality when a gluten intolerant person consumes "regular" oats they often react to them the same as if they were consuming gluten due to contamination.  So please only consume oats from a dedicated facility that guarantees they are gluten-free.

Fortunately there are some companies which recently started offering certified gluten-free oats. Bob's Red Mill (bobsredmill.com), Creamhill Estates (creamhillestates.com) and Gluten-free Oats (glutenfreeoats.com) are all certified as gluten-free. Bob's Red Mill is found most easily in healthfood stores while the others are available on-line only at this time. One caution with Bob's Red Mill is that they offer gluten-free oats as well as oats that are NOT gluten-free. So ensure that the package you buy states specifically that it's "gluten-free".

Certain ingredients have gotten a "bad rap" in the past and continue to appear on various sites as gluten-containing. We try to give you the latest information year so that you can have a reliable resource. This site is updated regularly to reflect changes as they occur.

To clear up any lingering confusion let's review a few different ingredients that have gotten poor reviews, mostly unnecessarily:

Mono and diglycerides - these are fats made from oil, usually soy, and act as emulsifiers. They are gluten-free.

Maltodextrin - despite beginning with the word "malt" it is gluten-free, usually made from corn, unless stated otherwise. e.g. "wheat maltodextrin" or "maltodextrin (wheat)".

Glucose syrup and citric acid - even when derived from wheat these are highly processed with the final product being gluten-free. Both are usually made from corn.

Modified food starch - in the past this was a source of gluten but currently, like maltodextrin, if it contains wheat the label will say so. Once again this is usually made from corn.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein - falls into the same category as modified food starch. If it contains wheat the label will say so.

Seasonings and spices - spices are pure and therefore gluten-free but seasonings are made from several ingredients and wheat can be one of them. It must be on the label however so read carefully. There have been more than a few run-ins with taco and chile seasoning packets that have created misery for patients that weren't careful label readers.

Malt flavoring - made from barley and therefore contains gluten.

Dextrin - a starch that is usually made from corn. If it's made from wheat it will be labelled and you should avoid it.  Dextrose is made from starach and is highly processed so even if it was made from wheat there would be no gluten remaining in the finished product.