Foods made from grains, especially wheat, such as oats, bread, pasta, cereal, and pizza contain the highest amount of gluten.
If you're trying to follow a gluten-free diet, you need to be aware of ways gluten can be hidden in foods. This includes products containing wheat, barley, or rye. Less obvious gluten-containing ingredients include natural and artificial flavorings, hydrolyzed proteins, and additives made of wheat.
Soy sauce and miso
Condiments can be a sneaky source of gluten. For example, soy sauce (except for tamari) is made with wheat. Miso, a soup base, may be made with barley.
Individual herbs and spices do not usually contain gluten. Blends of herbs and spices are sometimes combined with gluten-containing ingredients like wheat flour, wheat starch, wheat crumbs or wheat protein. These ingredients will be declared on the label of the seasoning blend.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).
But are they gluten-free? Here's the short answer: For the most part, yes, potato chips are gluten-free. After all, potatoes are naturally gluten-free, and most potato chips have a simple ingredient list that includes potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt.
Nutritious, naturally gluten-free foods include all fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed beans, fish, meats, seeds, legumes and nuts. Some grains, including rice, millet and flax are all gluten-free too.
Plus, remember that wheat-free grains, such as spelt, millet, rye, oats, and barley, all contain gluten! Like a gluten-free diet, anyone can follow a wheat-free diet, especially if they experience bloating, bowel irregularity and discomfort, or skin conditions.
Baked goods like cake, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, and pies contain gluten as well as pancakes and waffles. All wheat pasta contains gluten, including spaghetti, fettuccine, macaroni, lasagne, and ravioli. Not all breakfast cereals contain wheat, but many do, so be sure to check the nutrition labels.
Gluten-containing ingredients to avoid: malt, malt flavor, malt extract, malt vinegar, brewer's yeast, and ingredients with the words “wheat,” “barley,” or “rye” in the name or in parentheses after the name. Examples of ingredients to avoid: dextrin (wheat), wheat starch, malt extract (barley).
This law identified eight foods as major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.
While most cheeses by themselves do not contain gluten, foods that contain cheese as one ingredient may not be gluten-free, so you should always read the label. Cheesecake is not gluten-free (unless specified on the label) because the crust is made with wheat flour.
Because yogurt consists of nothing more than cultured milk, plain yogurt is gluten free. That being said, yogurt comes in a variety of different types and many flavors, some of which may not be.
In its purest form, chocolate in any of its milk, dark and white varieties doesn't contain gluten. Sadly for chocoholic coeliacs everywhere, the reason all chocolate isn't gluten free is because some products have gluten-based ingredients added, or they are made in a factory where gluten is used.
No, rice does not have gluten. Rice is naturally gluten-free. White rice, brown rice, sushi rice, even glutinous rice are all naturally gluten-free. Even wild rice, although not directly related to white, brown and other rice varieties, does not contain gluten either.
Butter is gluten-free. While some cheeses can have additives or flavorings that contain gluten, butter is usually a low risk unless flavored. However, always be sure to read the label to see if a particular brand is gluten-free.
Brown sugar is gluten free because it is simply white sugar mixed with molasses. Both of those ingredients are naturally free from gluten. Most bags of brown sugar are not labeled “gluten free” because there are only two ingredients. The manufacturers generally don't have issues with cross-contamination.
Most vinegars are gluten-free. Most varieties are distilled and made from inherently gluten-free ingredients such as grapes. The only vinegar that needs to be avoided is malt vinegar. Malt vinegar is not distilled, and malt is derived from barley, a grain that is not gluten-free.
Most French fries are made with naturally gluten-free ingredients, including potatoes, oil, and salt. However, some restaurants cook them in a fryer that is used for other foods that contain gluten (like chicken tenders or nuggets).