Ingredients and Labeling
8/08
1/08
The publishers at Gluten-Free Living now have a website with a "Labeling" section that will help you accurately read ingredient labels. They also have an "Ingredients" section that discusses many different ingredients and what their research has shown about them.
Recommendations and more:
- Educate yourself on ingredients and what is, isn't or might not be gluten free by looking at the above websites, and the lists below.
- Read all ingredient labels thoroughly every time.
- Wheat and rye will be listed somewhere (look carefully) if they are in
the product.
- Barley may still be a hidden ingredient in such things as malt and natural
flavors.
- Don't rely just on information given or not given concerning allergens
at the end of the ingredient listing. They are still very inconsistent at this time.
- When possible, choose a product that is produced in a gluten-free dedicated
facility.
- Don't consume products with regular oats as an ingredient (they need to be "pure" oats.
- You can feel safe with products labeled with the GFCO seal.
- Pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages are not required to list gluten at this point. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer directly.
RJ's Note: There is not a complete consensus yet among experts of what ingredients are and are not gluten-free. I include the following abbreviated information because it is the guidelines I follow. Each person must make their own decisions. Always keep in mind that in addition, each individual may have their own intolerances/allergies to some of these ingredients.
NFCA (National Foundation of Celiac Awareness) has a thoughtful discussion on their website about the confusion in what is gluten-free.
The ingredient section on the Gluten-Free Living website has good information about many ingredients. The following is a summary of what they report. Also recommended are the ingredient lists provided on www.Celiac.com, which are much larger.
Grains & grain-like plants: corn, rice (in all forms), amaranth, buckwheat (kasha), Montina, millet, quinoa, tef,sorghum,
soy
annatto, glucose syrup, lecithin, maltodextrin, oat gum, plain spices, silicon dioxide, starch, food starch
vinegar - except malt vinegar
citric, lactic and malic acids
dextrose and lactose
caramel color, mono and dyglycerides (these theoretically could be made from
a gluten-containing grain, but no products have been found so far that do)
Baking products: arrowroot, cornstarch, guar and xanthan gums, manioc (tapioca flour) potato starch flour, potato
starch, vanilla
wheat
rye
barley
malt (usually made from barley)
kamut, triticale, spelt, durum, farina, eindorn, semolina, bulgar, cake flour, matzo, matzah, couscous
wheat starch, modified wheat starch, hydrolyzed wheat protein
malt flavoring, syrup, extract, and vinegar
The following ingredients might contain gluten. Remember that wheat will be declared if an ingredient has any in it, buy barley may not be. See the Gluten-Free Living website for an explanation as to why these are questionable.
natural flavorings
oats (mainly due to cross-contamination issues). Three sources are now available for pure oats.
dextrin
seasonings and seasoning mixes (pure spices are GF),
processed cheese, flavored yogurts
alcoholic beverages (might have gluten only if an ingredient is added after distillation. The distillation process has
been scientifically proven to remove gluten.)
pharmaceuticals
soy sauce
modified food starch (if it is made from wheat, it will state so on the ingredient label, otherwise it is GF)
To learn more about Gluten-Free Living and how to subscribe to this
excellent publication, go to www.glutenfreeliving.com.
