Sources of Gluten: What You Can (and Can't) Eat

Numerous gluten-free products are available in stores and online—from baking mixes and flours to pizza doughs and pastas—and new products are added all the time. While many gluten-free products, like sauces and condiments, can be used interchangeably in the same way that their gluten-containing counterparts can, some can’t and need to be handled differently.

These are primarily products that normally contain gluten (breads, pastas, mixes, desserts) but have been made with gluten-free ingredients, which perform differently. For these products, be sure to reference the packages and use the cooking instructions specified for that product. Various brands of the same product can also act differently based on the mix of ingredients and the amounts of each ingredient they contain, so a procedure and cooking time that worked perfectly for quinoa pasta won’t always work for rice pasta, and one pancake mix may have a different texture than another. Follow the package directions and our instructions in the recipes closely for the best results.

Safe to eat
• Amaranth
• Arrowroot
• Beans
• Buckwheat
• Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• Corn
• Cornstarch
• Eggs
• Fish and shellfish
• Flaxseed
• Fresh fruit
• Fresh vegetables
• Grits                 
• Hominy
• Lentils
• Meat
• Mesquite
• Milk
• Millet
• Montina™ (Indian ricegrass)
• Peas
• Polenta
• Potato starch and potato flour
• Potatoes
• Poultry
• Products labeled gluten free
• Quinoa
• Raw nuts
• Rice
• Sorghum
• Tapioca
• Teff

Foods to check
These foods may be made with or without gluten, so it is important to read labels to find a safe version. By law, companies have to list wheat on the label if it is found in any ingredient.
• Baked goods like bread, breadcrumbs, cakes, cookies, croutons, muffins, and piecrusts
• Beer
• Bouillion
• Breading and coating mixes
• Beer
• Bouillion
• Breading and coating mixes
• Broth (all varieties)
• Candy
• Cereal
• Coated popcorn and chips
• Corn tortillas
• Crackers
• Energy bars
• Fast food
• Flavored alcoholic drinks
• Flavored or coated nuts and seeds
• Flavored teas
• Gravies, marinades, and sauces
• Hoisin sauce
• Licorice
• Ice cream
• Imitation seafood
• Marinades
• Multigrain rice and corn cakes
• Oats (look for gluten-free oats)
• Pastas
• Pepperoni
• Prepackaged, convenience foods
• Prepared icings and frostings
• Prepared salsas
• Processed foods
• Processed meats (hot dogs, lunch meat, and sausage)
• Roasted nuts
• Rotisserie chicken
• Salad dressings
• Sauces and gravies
• Seasoned rice mixes
• Seasoning mixes
• Soups
• Soy sauce
• Spices (if there is no ingredient list on the label, then it contains only the pure spice)
• Teriyaki sauce
• Vegetables packaged with sauces
• Worcestershire sauce
• Yogurt (with granola)

Foods to avoid
• Barley
• Barley malt
• Bran (oat, wheat)
• Bulgur
• Cooking spray for baking (may contain wheat flour)
• Couscous
• Durum
• Einkorn
• Emmer
• Farina
• Farro
• Flour containing wheat, barley, or rye or any of their derivatives
• Graham flour
• Hydrolyzed wheat protein
• Kamut
• Malted milk
• Malt flavorings
• Malt vinegar
• Matzo
• Meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables that are breaded, floured, served with a sauce made from wheat, or marinated in a wheat-based sauce such as soy or teriyaki
• Rye
• Seitan
• Semolina
• Spelt
• Triticale
• Wheat
• Wheat germ