The Ingredient Roundup

Prevalent Gluten Free & Gluten-Containing Ingredients

One of my “In’s” for 2024 was reading ingredients. Sometimes, its just such a comfort to see a certified GF label, that I get a little lax when it comes to digging into ingredient lists. It’s important to recognize some tricky ingredients (looking at you, oatmeal), and be food-literate when it comes to spotting whether certain things are safe to eat. We all know wheat, barely, and rye are off the table, but what about some of the lesser-known additives in our food? This is by no means an exhaustive list, as it is possible to get extremely granular when looking at ingredients from many different sources and cuisines. However, this is a great starting point to educate yourself on some of the most common ingredients you’ll find at the grocery store.

*I want to acknowledge the immensely helpful resources of Boston Children’s Hospital, the Celiac Disease Foundation, and the National Celiac Association in compiling this list of GF and gluten-containing ingredients.

Of course, all whole foods (fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, legumes and nuts) are all naturally GF. Below is a list of some common Gluten Free ingredients:

Active Dry yeast
Amaranth
Arrowroot
*Autolyzed yeast (note at bottom)
Bakers yeast
Beans
Buckwheat
Buckwheat groats (kasha)
Caramel color
Cassava
Chia
Corn
Corn gluten (despite the name!)
Dextrins
Flax
GF oats
Glutinous rice
Instant yeast
Maltodextrin
Millet
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Nut flours
Potato
Quinoa
Rice
Sorghum
Soy
Spices and herbs (be sure to double check the ingredients in ‘seasonings’)
Starch
Tapioca
Teff
Vanilla
Vinegar (all except malt vinegar)
Yeast
Yucca

The Big Three are Wheat, Barely and Rye.

And now, for those sneaky ingredients we want to make sure to avoid!

*Autolyzed yeast extract (note at bottom)
Barely
Barely Flakes
Barely Pearl
Barley Flour
Brewers yeast
Brown rice syrup (while brown rice does not contain gluten, some brown rice syrups contain barely enzymes. It is best avoided unless explicitly labeled GF.)
Bulgur
Couscous
Durum
Einkorn Wheat
Emme
Farina
Farro
Graham Flour
Kamut
Malt Extract
Malt Flavoring
Malt Syrup
Malt Vinegar
Malted Milk
Matzah
Oats
Rye Bread
Rye Flour
Semolina
Spelt
Triticale
Wheat starch
Wheatberries

*per Beyond Celiac, autolyzed yeast IS GF, however autolyzed yeast extract is derived from barely and is therefore not safe for GF eaters!

I hope this list is helpful as you navigate your shopping and food consumption in the safest way possible. Sometimes it can feel demoralizing to analyze a big long list of mystery words. My hope is this cheat sheet can alleviate some stress and confusion, and aid you in providing the tastiest and safest GF food for your family!