Celiac Safe - A few Tips and Tricks

Celiac Safe - A few Tips and Tricks

Reading labels can be a huge chore, especially for someone just starting out on their Gluten-Free lifestyle. There are a few tips and tricks that can make it a bit easier though. And with a bit of experience and patience you’ll soon be able to identify safe products.

Look for Certified GF products – that’s an easy one. Certification means the product is batch tested by an independent outside company to be below 10ppm. In the US Federal law requires GF products to be below 20ppm. In other countries it's often below 10ppm or even 5ppm.

Watch out for Oats – make certain it states Certified GF Oats. Oats do not contain gluten. The problem with Oats and Oat products that you find in the supermarket is that they’re very often contaminated with gluten from Wheat, Rye or Barley during processing (such as harvesting or milling). Many US companies now use a mechanical sorting process that ‘removes’ the gluten from the Oats before manufacturing.  It doesn’t work well, which often results in products well above the 20ppm safety limit.

Always read the labels – even on trusted products. Manufacturers often change ingredients due to availability or cost. If it’s not a Certified product it’s possible there was no testing done to check the gluten levels.

Just because it says Gluten-Free doesn’t mean that it is – this goes back to the Certification. Companies are only required to test once or twice a year to remain under the legal 20ppm limit and still put ‘Gluten-Free’ on their product. Those tests are often done in-house and are not always accurate. Don’t worry; you’ll eventually learn which non-certified products you can trust. Just keep in mind there are a few that you can’t.

Soy is naturally GF – but Soy Sauce is not. Soy and Soy Sauce are two very different things, even though both are used as ingredients in many processed foods. Many people confuse the two. And if you love Soy Sauce don’t panic, there are several GF Soy Sauce types available on the market.

Gluten-Free doesn’t always mean Wheat Free – watch out for the new Gluten-Free Wheat Starch. Also known as Codex Wheat Starch, Gluten-Free Wheat Starch is a specially produced ingredient where the gluten has been removed to a trace level, generally below 5ppm. It can be used in products made outside the US but will always show up listed in the allergens as Wheat.

Wheat-Free does not mean Gluten-Free – gluten is more than just Wheat. There are actually over 150 different ingredients that can hide gluten. These are simply the tip of the iceberg - Wheat Berries, Durum, Emmer, Semolina, Spelt, Farina, Farro, Graham, Kamut, Khorasan Wheat, Einkorn, Rye, Barley and Triticale (a cross between Wheat and Rye). The ONLY one required to be listed under allergens is ‘Wheat’.

Made in a Facility – this one can be very confusing. In the US ‘Made in a facility that processes wheat’ is a voluntary statement designed to protect the company from litigation. Keep in mind that many Manufacturing Plants are huge, often several city blocks huge. And that Certified products are batch tested…every single batch. And that most products marked Gluten-Free are created in dedicated spaces, often dedicated buildings on the campus, on dedicated lines. As you learn to navigate the maze of what is Gluten-Free and what is not, you’ll also learn which companies you can trust and which ones you can’t.

Made on shared lines – this one’s a bright red flag for many with Celiac Disease. It doesn’t matter how well they may clean the lines between runs ‘Made on shared lines’ is risky business for those with Celiac Disease. You have no way of knowing what those other products may have been, or how conscientious the workers may have been in cleaning. If all it takes is 3.42 milligrams of gluten per day to make a Celiac sick, it makes sense to avoid something with this statement.

Watch out for those Holiday Specials – make certain you read those labels. Holiday specialty items can be more dangerous than you might think. They’re often run fast, with less expensive ingredients, on any line that might be available, in any building that might be available. Many times they’re run on multiple lines at the same time. That’s why you’ll find that even trusted products and manufacturers will actually REMOVE the Gluten-Free status from the ingredients listing on their Holiday Specials.

Real, whole foods are always, naturally, Gluten-Free.  Real fruits, and vegetables, meats, poultry, seafood, along with a plethora of natural grains are all safe to enjoy. Gluten-Free grains include Amaranth, Buckwheat (Yes, Buckwheat), Corn, Job’s Tears, Millet, Montina, Quinoa, Rice, Sorghum, Teff, and Wild Rice just to name a few.