Gluten – where are you hiding?
Whatever the reason you have chosen to a gluten free lifestyle you should be aware of the many ingredients that contain gluten that aren’t readily apparent as a gluten food. The below lists of ingredients and additives can include gluten, but sources must be carefully scrutinized. For example, modified food starch from corn is considered gluten-free, so long as no wheat starch is included. Apple cider vinegar is acceptable, but distilled vinegars contain gluten. If you’re unsure, check the labels or contact the manufacturer for detailed production information.
Main Sources of Gluten
- Barley
- Oats – oats don’t naturally contain gluten, but are often subject to contamination with small amounts of it, so many gluten-intolerant people avoid them
- Rye
- Wheat – including semolina, durum, spelt, triticale, and KAMUT® khorasan wheat
Hidden Sources of Gluten
- Binders
- Blue cheese
- Brown rice syrup (if barley malt enzyme is used)
- Buckwheat flour and soba noodles (if combined with wheat)
- Caramel coloring (made from barley malt enzymes)
- Coatings
- Colorings
- Dextrins
- Dispersing agents (i.e., cellulose, citric acid)
- Emulsifiers
- Excipients (added to prescription medications to achieve desired consistency)
- Extracts (in grain alcohol)
- Fillers
- Flavorings (in grain alcohol)
- Flours, breads, cereals, crackers, pasta, sauces and condiments made with the primary gluten source grains or their derivatives
- Grain alcohol (beer, ale, rye, scotch, bourbon, grain vodka)
- Homeopathic remedies
- Hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
- Malt or malt flavoring (barley malt)
- Modified starch, modified food starch (when derived from wheat)
- Mono-and diglycerides (made using a wheat-starch carrier)
- Oils (wheat germ oil and any oil with gluten additives)
- Preservatives
- Soy sauce (when fermented using wheat)
- Spices (if contain anti-caking ingredients)
- Starch (made from primary gluten source grains)
- Vegetable gum (when made from oats)
- Vegetable protein
- Vinegars (distilled clear and white or with a mash starter)
- Vitamin E oil
