A Basic Diet Guide for people following a gluten free
diet
Getting the gluten-free diet right is easy when you know the ground rules. Follow the guidelines below and you will be on your way to a happy, healthy gluten-free life.
Getting the gluten-free diet right is easy when you know the ground rules. Follow the guidelines below and you will be on your way to a happy, healthy gluten-free life.
This material is not intended to provide medical advice,
which should be obtained directly from a physician.
YES
Foods made from grains (and grain-like plants) that do
not contain harmful gluten, including: Corn in all forms (corn flour, corn
meal, grits,etc.). Rice in all forms (white, brown, basmati and enriched rice).
Also amaranth, buckwheat (kasha), Montina, millet, quinoa, teff, sorghum and
soy. We are of course putting
uncontaminated oats onto this list that has been tested with NO traces of
gluten.
The following
ingredients:
Annatto, glucose syrup, lecithin, maltodextrin (even when
it is made from wheat), oat gum, plain spices, silicon dioxide, starch, food
starch and vinegar (only malt vinegar might contain gluten). Also citric,
lactic and malic acids as well as sucrose, dextrose and lactose; and these
baking products: arrowroot, cornstarch, guar and xanthan gums, tapioca four or
starch, potato starch flour and potato starch, vanilla.
The following
foods:
Milk, butter, margarine, real cheese, plain yogurt and
vegetable oils including canola. Plain fruits, vegetables, (fresh, frozen and
canned), meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, beans and legumes and flours made from
them.
Distilled vinegar
is gluten free. (See malt vinegar under NO below).
Distilled
alcoholic beverages are gluten free because distillation effectively removes
gluten from wheat. They are not gluten free if gluten-containing ingredients
are added after distillation, but this rarely, if ever, happens.
Mono and
diglycerides are fats and are gluten free.
Spices are gluten
free. If there is no ingredient list on the container, it contains only the
pure spice noted on the label.
NO
Wheat in all forms including spelt, kamut, triticale (a
combination of wheat and rye), durum, einkorn, farina, semolina, cake flour,
matzo (or matzah) and couscous.
Ingredients with "wheat" in the name including
wheat starch, modified wheat starch, hydrolyzed wheat protein and pregelatinized
wheat protein. Buckwheat, which is gluten free, is an exception.
Barley and malt, which is usually made from barley, malt
syrup, malt extract, malt flavouring and malt vinegar.
Rye
Breaded or floured meat, poultry, seafood and vegetables.
Also meat, poultry and vegetables when they have a sauce or marinade that
contain gluten, such as soy and teriyaki sauces.
Licorice, imitation crab meat, beer, most is fermented
from barley. (Specialty gluten-free beer is available from several companies.)
MAYBE
Dextrin can be made from wheat, which would be noted on
the label, and would not be gluten free.
Flavourings are usually gluten free, but in rare
instances can contain wheat or barley. By law, wheat would have to be labelled.
Barley is usually called malt flavouring. In extremely rare instances, neither
barley nor malt is specified in flavouring.
Modified food starch is gluten free, except when wheat is
noted on the label, either as "modified wheat starch," modified
starch (wheat) or if the Contains statement at the end of the ingredients list
includes wheat.
Oats used to be considered unsafe, but recent research
has shown that a moderate amount of special pure oats is safe for most
coeliacs. Several companies produce oats specifically for the GF market. They
are labelled gluten free.
Pharmaceuticals can contain gluten, although most are
gluten free. Check with the pharmaceutical company, especially if you take the
medication on a continuing basis.
Processed cheese (spray cheese, for example) may contain
gluten. Real cheese is gluten free.
Seasonings and seasoning mixes could contain gluten.
Wheat will be noted on the label as required by law.
Soy Sauce is usually fermented from wheat. However, some
brands don't include wheat and are gluten free.
Read the label to be sure.
Special Cases
Caramel colour is almost always made from corn, but it
can be made from malt syrup. However, in more than 10 years, we have not been
able to find a single instance of a caramel colour produced this way. Companies
in North America say they use corn. You can consider caramel colour GF.
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is a phrase that under
federal regulation should not be used on a food label. Food processors have to
identify the "vegetable." So you might read "hydrolyzed wheat
protein," which would not be gluten free, or "hydrolyzed soy
protein," which is gluten free.
