Is this safe?
everyday food, and the ones that catch people outSame three answers the planner uses, and they are on the buttons below. What trips people up is rarely an obscure food. It's usually an everyday one with wheat hiding inside.
The whole list, if you would rather just read it
Every food in the quiz, sorted by the answer instead of shuffled. The three groups are the same three the planner sorts food into.
Safe as it is
- Buckwheat
The name fools everyone. Buckwheat isn't wheat, and it isn't even a grass. It's naturally gluten free.
- Quinoa
Quinoa is a seed rather than a grain, and it stands in well anywhere a recipe wants bulgur or couscous.
- Distilled white vinegar
Distilling leaves the gluten protein behind, so plain distilled vinegar is fine. Malt vinegar is the one to watch out for.
- Plain rice
Rice is one of the safest bases you can build on, and it's the backbone of a lot of easy lunches.
- Eggs
Eggs have no label to read at all. Boiled ones keep all week in the shell.
- Potatoes
A whole potato is about as safe as food gets. The trouble starts with what gets done to it.
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
Nothing fresh needs a label read, which is why the planner leans on fruit and veg so heavily.
- Beans and lentils
The only thing to watch with beans and lentils is dried ones from a bulk bin, where the scoops are shared.
Depends, check it
- Oats
Oats don't contain gluten, but they get contaminated in the field and at the mill. Only buy oats labeled certified gluten free, and know that some people react to oats anyway.
- Stock cubes and broth
Wheat is a common thickener and flavor carrier in stock. It's where a lot of otherwise safe soups fall down.
- Gravy
Traditional gravy is thickened with wheat flour. You can make it with cornstarch instead, but never assume that's what a restaurant did.
- Milk chocolate
Barley malt flavoring turns up in chocolate far more often than people expect. Plain dark chocolate is less likely to have it, but read the label anyway.
- Deli meat sliced at the counter
There are two problems here. The meat can contain wheat fillers, and the slicer is shared with meats that do. Sealed pre-packaged is the safer buy.
- Nuts from a bulk bin
The nuts are fine. The scoop that moves from bin to bin isn't, so buy the packaged version instead.
- Corn tortillas
Tortillas made from 100% corn are fine, but plenty of brands blend in wheat. Read the front of the package and the ingredients on the back.
- Lip balm
It goes on your lips, so it ends up in your mouth. Check the ingredients on balms and lip gloss.
- Prescription medicine
Some tablets use wheat starch as a binder. Your pharmacist can check this for you.
Not safe
- Seitan
Seitan is wheat gluten. It's the one food that's literally made of the thing you're avoiding.
- Couscous
Couscous looks like a grain, but it's tiny pasta made from semolina wheat.
- Orzo
Orzo is shaped like rice, but it's pasta, and it's made from wheat.
- Farro and spelt
Both are old varieties of wheat. A grain being ancient doesn't make it gluten free.
- Soy sauce
Standard soy sauce is brewed with wheat. Swap in tamari that's labeled gluten free.
- Malt vinegar
Malt comes from barley. Malt vinegar has gluten in it, and it hides in pickles and chips, so check those labels.
- Imitation crab
It's almost always bound with wheat starch. This is the one that catches people out at the sushi counter.
- Licorice
Traditional licorice is bound with wheat flour. You can buy certified gluten-free versions, but the standard kind is out.
- Fries from a shared fryer
Potatoes are fine, but the oil isn't once anything battered has been through it. It has to be a dedicated fryer.
- Toast from the family toaster
Crumbs from ordinary bread are enough to make you ill. Gluten-free bread needs its own toaster, or a toaster bag in a shared one.
- Food fried in the same pan as breaded chicken
It's the same principle as the fryer. Wash the pan properly first, or use a different one.
- Play dough
Classic play dough is made with wheat flour. Hands end up in mouths, so ask the school about gluten-free dough.
- Communion wafers
Traditional wafers are made from wheat. Low gluten and gluten-free options exist, so ask ahead of time.
- Beer
Beer is brewed from barley. Cider and dedicated gluten-free beers are the alternatives.
These answers are how we decide in our own house, not medical advice, and a quiz cannot see the actual product in your hand. Brands reformulate, the same brand differs from country to country, and a couple of these, communion wafers and prescription medicine in particular, are worth settling with your priest, your pharmacist or your doctor rather than with us. Where the label and this page disagree, the label wins.