Where Gluten Hides When the Label Does Not Say Wheat

When someone decides to go gluten free, they usually start by giving up the obvious things. Bread. Pasta. Crackers. Beer, eventually, once someone breaks the news.

Then a few weeks pass and they still do not feel the way they hoped.

Often the reason is simple. Gluten is still coming in, just from places nobody thinks to check.

What gluten actually is

Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye. In food production it is used to change texture, thicken sauces, and hold things together. That is why it turns up in products that have nothing to do with bread.

The places it hides

Beer and malt drinks. Ales, beers, lagers, and malt beverages contain gluten unless the label says gluten free.

Soups. Creamy soups are often thickened with flour. Others contain barley.

Deli and processed meats. Lunch meats, sausages, and meatballs can use gluten as a filler or binder.

Sauces and seasonings. Soy sauce, gravy mixes, and spice blends often use wheat starch or dextrin to thicken.

Supplements and medicines. Wheat starch is sometimes used as an inactive ingredient. Your pharmacist can check this for you.

Personal care products. Lipstick, lotion, and hair products sometimes contain gluten. This matters most for anything that ends up near your mouth.

Art supplies. Some modeling dough and paints are made with wheat. Worth knowing if you have little ones at the table.

Names that mean gluten

If the label does not say wheat, barley, or rye, it can still be there under one of these: bread crumbs, brewer's yeast, bulgur, cereal extract, club wheat, couscous, cracker meal, durum, einkorn, emmer, farina, farro, flour of any kind, freekeh, graham, hydrolyzed wheat protein, kamut, malt in any form, seitan, semolina, spelt, sprouted wheat, triticale, vegetable protein, vital wheat gluten, wheat berries, wheat bran hydrolysate, wheat germ oil, wheat grass, and wheat protein isolate.

Two of those deserve a note. Starch and vegetable protein are not always made from wheat. When the label does not say the source, it is worth asking the manufacturer.

The easiest habit to build

Look at the very bottom of the label first. Allergens are listed there. "Contains: Wheat" tells you in two seconds what a full ingredient list takes two minutes to figure out.

Keep it simple: Check the bottom of the label first, then the ingredient list if you still are not sure.

If going gluten free is something you are working on right now, the 30-Day Gluten Challenge in My Vitality Compass gives you one small step a day so you are not trying to change everything at once.