17 Places Where Gluten is Hiding
Are you beginning your gluten-free diet? I make a list of the 17 places where gluten is hiding to help you avoid eating it unexpectedly. I remember when we started our gluten-free journey after my daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease. It took many days of researching and sourcing foods and products that were suitable for her new diet. Here I comprised a list of places where you may not think to find gluten but it’s there.
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What is Gluten?
To begin, lets start by explaining what gluten is. Gluten is a protein naturally found in some grains including wheat, barley, and rye. It’s the gluten that helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a glue that holds food together. Gluten is not good for people with celiac. Celiac is an immune reaction to eating gluten. If you have celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response in your small intestine. It damages the small hair like structures in the intestine called villi. Which causes some people to have bad reactions to the gluten and not feel well. If left untreated without a diet change it can also lead to malnutrition from lack of absorption.
Why do I need to know where gluten is?
When switching to a gluten-free diet it is important to know where gluten is hiding because you don’t want to eat any of it. Starting out you will have to do some detective work and be an avid label reader. I read all labels when buying food to make sure it doesn’t have any gluten in it. Even after reading the label and your not sure you can call the company to ask about it. This will help with not accidently ingesting gluten.
Where to find it
Here is my list of places that I have found gluten in that you wouldn’t think it would be there. (Please also read my gluten-free disclaimer below)
Sauces & Gravies
Sauces and gravies use wheat flour to thicken them.
Vinegar
Vinegar sometimes contains malt, which is from barley.
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce contains wheat.
Salad dressing
Salad dressings sometimes use wheat flour to thicken them.
French Fries
Some french fries come with a flour coating to make them more crispy.
Meatballs
Meatballs can contain breadcrumbs in them.
Beef Jerky
Soy sauce and be found in beef jerky which has wheat in it.
Beer
Beer is made of using barley and rye and other grains.
Licorice
Licorice candy can use wheat to make this treat.
Cereal
Cereals can be made of wheat and also contain malt flavoring which is from barley.
Canned soup
Soups can contain wheat flour as a thickener.
Deli meat
Deli meat can contain wheat thickeners or soy sauce flavorings.
Pickles
Some pickles have malt vinegar.
Supplements
Wheat could be used as a filler.
Seasonings
Some seasonings contain wheat as a anticaking agent.
Playdough
Playdough made from wheat flour.
Fryers at restaurants
Fried food coated in wheat flour leave particles in the oil which would lead to cross contamination.
Other places where gluten is hiding
My list is in no way a complete list. Always your your best judgement when looking for gluten-free products.
A few other places to watch out for are shampoos, energy bars, veggie burgers, cheese sauces, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs (I’ve heard of places adding pancake mix to them), rice mixes, and imitation seafood.
Tips for dealing with gluten at home
Some of my tips when dealing with gluten are to have separate utensils dedicated to gluten-free food. This helps with cross contamination. Also, with that in mind keep an eye on your toasted oven and cutting boards too. These cutting boards are great because you can color code them to keep track and they are flexible which is a really nice feature too. Keep them clean so they don’t cross contaminate if other people in your home still eat gluten containing foods.
When in doubt
My go to! When in doubt throw it out! (or give it to someone that can eat gluten) You don’t want to take a chance of getting sick. It’s best if you can control what’s going on around you.
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GLUTEN-FREE DISCLOSURE
BY READING THIS BLOG, YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY DIET IS AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE READER’S CHOICE AND INITIATIVE, AND THE READER ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS OR HER UNDERSTANDING, INTERPRETATIONS AND ACTIONS AS A RESULT. THE OWNER OF THIS BLOG ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE READER. THE OWNER OF THIS BLOG HIGHLY RECOMMENDS THE HEALTH AND NUTRITION INFORMATION ON THIS BLOG BE DISCUSSED WITH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED IS BASED ON THE OWNER’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND OPINIONS.
Thank you for stopping by Life on Leetown.
I never thought about checking my vinegar! Thank you for that tip
Your welcome.
Wow, such a good list! Who knew about some of these?! I like that you’re bringing attention to being really mindful about what we consume so that it aligns with our lifestyle and consumption goals! 🙂
Oh wow. I didn’t realize gluten was hidden in so many of these essentials. I don’t have a large intolerance but I do get bloat from the obvious sources. Who knew! Thanks for sharing.