For many people with allergies, avoiding the food they are allergic to is pretty simple. All they have to do is look at the ingredient list and make sure it’s not one of the foods listed. Unfortunately, if you have gluten sensitivity, it’s not always that simple. Instead of looking for foods that contain “gluten” in the ingredient list, you must be on the lookout for ingredients that contain the problematic protein. To make your gluten-free diet easier to follow, be on the lookout for these frequent hiding places of gluten.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #1: Flours
You probably already know to check for ingredients such as “bleached white flour” or “whole wheat flour” in order to avoid gluten. However, you’ll also need to avoid products that contain cracked wheat, barley, spelt, and farro on the ingredient list. Products that may not be as common, but definitely contain gluten, include durum and triticale.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #2: Pasta
One of the first foods you probably learned to reluctantly let go of on your gluten-free diet was pasta. So you’re probably well aware that foods like lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti are out unless you’re purchasing the specially certified gluten-free varieties. However, certain kinds of pasta may not be immediately recognizable as such. Couscous is a pasta made of crushed ground semolina and should be avoided. Orzo is another delicious pasta that is sometimes mistaken as rice, due to its shape. Unlike rice, however, orzo contains gluten.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #3: Oats
Even if you are buying plain oats instead of the instant kind, you are still not getting gluten-free oats. During the growing, harvesting, and processing stages of the oats, they can become contaminated with gluten. This is particularly common in factories that manufacture both bread products and oats. It is better to avoid oats entirely unless they are specifically labeled gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #4: Vegetarian Products
Any vegetarian products that contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) or seitan contain gluten. Additionally, some vegetarian meats may be made with tempeh that is not gluten-free or with flavored tofu that is not gluten-free due to the seasonings used. You should especially be careful of fake vegan “meat” products, such as vegan hot dogs or vegan burgers.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #5: Some Non-Vegetarian Meats
If your weaknesses include sausages, hot dogs, jerky, and cured meats, you should be aware that these foods often use wheat products as fillers and therefore contain gluten. Even pre-made hamburgers may contain gluten in the ingredients used to hold the burger together. Fish and chicken products may also contain gluten as fillers, even if they are not the breaded varieties.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #6: Soups, Sauces, and Spices
It’s very easy to make soup at home without any type of thickener. All you have to do is add more beans, rice, or vegetables. In some cases, letting your soup sit and simmer for a while will also help thicken your final product. In fact, you may have never used flour to make soup in your life. But flour is a traditional thickener used in canned soups, which makes soups ranging from tomato to broccoli and cheese prime hiding spots for gluten. Gluten may also be hiding in soy sauce, stir-fry sauces, chicken broth, vegetable broth, tomato paste, salad dressings, dry mustard, gravy, and gravy mixes, and curry powder.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #7: Beverages
You might never think to look for gluten in your beverages. After all, who would ever include wheat or flour in your drink? If you drink herbal teas, however, you may be ingesting barley, which means your tea is not gluten-free. You should also be wary of cocoa powdered mixes, flavored vinegars, flavored coffee, wine coolers, cooking wines, and beer unless they are labeled as being gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #8: Sweet Treats
It seems unfair to ask you to give up sweet treats and your pasta! But in fact, products such as brown sugar and spiced nuts may be contaminated with gluten through the use of the spices. Additionally, pudding, yogurt, and powdered sugar may all contain gluten. Chocolate chips and other chocolate products often hide the troublesome protein as well. Even if these products do not contain gluten in their ingredients, they face the same problem that oats have with factory cross-contamination. For these products, make sure you are eating ones that are explicitly labeled gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Diet Buster #9: Medications
Not only do you have to worry about gluten sneaking into foods, but you also have to worry about it sneaking into medications. The inactive ingredients of many medications include fillers, which are designed to give a drug its shape. These fillers also assist in water absorption. Typically, these inactive ingredients come from starch sources, which include wheat products. In many cases, not even the pharmacist will be able to tell if the product contains a gluten-free starch source. The only way for either you or the pharmacist to know is to contact the manufacturer.
Unfortunately, the world is designed much more around those shoppers who can purchase their pasta and bread than it is for those of you who have gluten sensitivity issues. The good news is that this is changing and more grocery stores are carrying a greater variety of gluten-free versions of problematic foods. In the meantime, use this guide as a way to avoid unpleasant surprises and keep your body a happy, gluten-free place.
