Foods to Avoid for Celiac Disease

I wish the guidelines for avoiding gluten were as easy as telling you to stop eating wheat, barley, and rye flour. That’s part of what you need to do, but it is much more complicated than that. There are many hidden sources of gluten, and beyond that, some naturally gluten-free products can be cross-contaminated with gluten.

Here are lists of foods, ingredients and additives to avoid. Study this list carefully and refer to it often. Eventually, you’ll have the foods memorized.

 

COMMON FOODS THAT CONTAIN GLUTEN

  • Barley (and anything with the word barley in it, such as barley malt)
  • Beer
  • Bleached flour
  • Blue cheese (sometimes made with bread mold)
  • Bread flour
  • Bulgur
  • Cake flour
  • Communion wafers
  • Cracker meal
  • Croutons
  • Couscous
  • Durum
  • Farina
  • Farro
  • Graham flour
  • Groats
  • Kamut
  • Malt (and anything with the word malt in it, such as rice malt, malt extract or malt flavoring)
  • Malt beverages
  • Matzo (made with wheat)
  • Orzo
  • Pasta (all varieties made with wheat, wheat starch, barley, rye or any ingredient on this list)
  • Rye (and anything with the word rye in it)
  • Seitan
  • Semolina
  • Soy sauce (check ingredients—some contain wheat)
  • Spelt
  • Suet
  • Tabbouleh
  • Teriyaki sauce (check ingredients—some contain wheat)
  • Triticale
  • Triticum
  • Vital gluten
  • Wheat (and anything with the word wheat in it, such as wheat grass, wheat berries, wheat germ, wheat starch, wheat bran and wheat flour; buckwheat* is OK and is the only exception)

 

LESS COMMON FOODS AND FOOD ADDITIVIES THAT CONTAIN GLUTEN

  • Abyssinian hard (a wheat product)
  • Amp-isostearoyl hydrolyzed wheat
  • Brewer’s yeast
  • Cereal binding
  • Cereal extract
  • Dextrimaltose
  • Dinkel
  • Disodium wheatgermamido Peg-2 sulfosuccinate
  • Edible starch
  • Einkorn
  • Emmer
  • Filler
  • Fu
  • Granary flour
  • Mir
  • Udon (wheat noodles)
  • Whole-meal flour

 

FOODS AND FOOD ADDITIVES THAT MAY CONTAIN GLUTEN

If a favorite food contains one of the following ingredients and does not say “gluten-free” on the label, contact the company and ask questions. Depending on the manufacturing process, these questionable ingredients can sometimes be gluten-free.

  • Artificial color
  • Artificial flavoring
  • Bouillon cubes
  • Brown rice syrup
  • Candy
  • Caramel color
  • Coloring
  • Dextrins
  • Dried fruit (may be dusted with wheat)
  • Flavored coffee
  • Flavored vinegar
  • Flavoring
  • Food from bulk bins at the grocery store
  • Food starch
  • French fries
  • Glucose syrup
  • Gravy cubes
  • Ground spices (wheat is sometimes added to prevent clumping)
  • Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
  • Ice cream
  • Maltodextrin
  • Maltose
  • Miso
  • Modified starch
  • Monoglycerides and diglycerides
  • Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
  • Mustard powder (some brands contain gluten; check ingredients)
  • Natural flavoring
  • Oats (look specifically for gluten-free)
  • Processed cheese (check ingredients)
  • Processed meats (cold cuts, hot dogs, sausages, and canned meats that contain wheat, barley, rye, oats, gluten fillers or stabilizers)
  • Rice malt
  • Rice syrup
  • Salad dressing
  • Seasonings (including powdered flavorings and dustings on chips, nuts, popcorn, rice mixes, and rice cakes)
  • Smoke flavoring
  • Soba noodles
  • Starch
  • Stock/bouillon cubes
  • Surimi (imitation seafood)
  • Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
  • Vegetable starch
  • Vitamins

 

Check out my healthy gluten-free shopping list!