Gluten Free Engineer - Making Gluten Free Easy

Decoding Gluten-Free Labels

• Carrie Saunders • Episode 18

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You know that moment—you pick up a product that looks safe, it says "gluten-free" in bold letters… but something still makes you hesitate.

Can you trust the label? What about that "processed in a facility with wheat" note? What the heck is "malt extract" anyway?

If you’ve ever stood in a grocery aisle Googling ingredients, this episode is for you. Today I’m breaking down how to read gluten-free labels with confidence—so you can spend less time stressing and more time actually enjoying your food!


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Speaker 1:

Quick reminder before we get started on this episode this podcast is based on my personal experiences and isn't medical advice. You know that moment you pick up a product that looks safe, it says gluten-free in bold letters, but something still makes you hesitate. Can you trust the label? What about that process in a facility with wheat? Note, what the heck is malt extract? Anyway, if you've ever stood in a grocery aisle Googling ingredients, this episode is for you. Today, I'm breaking down how to read gluten-free labels with confidence, so you can spend less time stressing and more time actually enjoying your food.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Gluten-Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, keri Saunders. In 2011, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, a moment that changed everything, but I was determined not to let it hold me back. With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer the gluten-free lifestyle, breaking down recipes, safety tips, travel hacks and everything in between to rebuild a life I love. Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply choose to live gluten-free, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we simplify the gluten-free lifestyle, make it fun and prove that you don't have to miss out on anything. Welcome back to the episode.

Speaker 1:

So today we're talking about reading gluten-free labels and reading labels in general. And first off we want to talk about what actually gluten-free means and what it doesn't. So in the United States gluten-free means that it contains less than 20 parts per million of gluten and it cannot contain wheat, barley, rye or crossbred hybrids of those grains. But it doesn't require certification or dedicated facilities. So that means just a simple gluten-free label could mean it could contain more than 20 parts per million of gluten, potentially, but it's not guaranteed to be above or below. It's supposed to be at the 20 or less. But if it doesn't say, you know, certified gluten-free, it doesn't mean that it's completely for sure safe. It doesn't mean that it's completely for sure safe. So certified gluten-free means truly gluten free. It means it's certified by third-party testing and it's stricter than FDA standards here in the United States. So some logos to look for is GFCO and CSA.

Speaker 1:

Many times you'll see this traditional gluten-free certified logo. It kind of looks like a swirly G with kind of like an oval around it, because then it says gluten-free to the side. So that's the logo you want to look for if you're celiac or highly sensitive to cross-contact of gluten, if you're gluten intolerant or avoiding gluten, then simply it's stating gluten-free should be good enough for you again, unless you are, like super sensitive to cross contact. So if you're celiac, I highly recommend you always look for the certified gluten-free labels on processed foods. It's just safer. You're going to feel better if you're making sure that it is guaranteed less than 20 parts per million of gluten. Some people are actually even sensitive to smaller amounts than 20 parts per million. So you need to know your body and work with your doctor there as well, and so you might want to avoid processed foods if you are one that's highly sensitive and sensitive to like 10 or 5 parts per million, which is generally pretty rare, but it's you know work with your doctor on that to see if that's what you want.

Speaker 1:

So the bottom line here is gluten-free does not guarantee it's safe for everybody, especially those with cross-contact sensitivities like celiac disease people and those super sensitive. So if you're super sensitive or have celiac disease, look for that certified gluten-free label if it's not an item that's normally gluten-free, like just apples or fruits or vegetables. So there's some phrases and red flags we want to watch out for. So anytime you see made in a facility with wheat that has a high cross-contact risk and is not advised for celiac disease or those who are sensitive to cross-contact risk and is not advised for celiac disease or those who are sensitive to cross contact. We also want to avoid a made on a shared equipment with wheat. If you're celiac or highly sensitive to cross contact, that's a bit more risk than in the facility type, because that means that wheat is actually on those lines at some point in time and it's made on a shared equipment and the may contain traces of wheat can be added voluntarily, but it's important to consider.

Speaker 1:

So that means that it could be one of the above. It could be that they don't thoroughly clean their lines in between. So maybe they don't share the same, maybe share the same equipment but they do a thorough job of cleaning it, but they're still are, you know. But they do a thorough job of cleaning it but they're still are, you know, kind of like covering their butt and saying it might contain traces of wheat. So that's also not advised if you're celiac or highly sensitive. And then, obviously, if it says contains wheat, barley or rye, it's definitely a hard no. So when you're in doubt, it's a great idea to contact the company if it's something that you really want to try or check for trusted gluten-free communities online around you to see what others have experienced with the product. So another tricky thing, and I get a lot of questions about this from people who are celiac gluten-free or those who are trying to buy products for those people who need a gluten-free because they're so confused on what actually contains gluten, because labels don't necessarily say gluten and you need to watch out for words like malt, which is usually made from barley, malt vinegar, too malt extract, malt flavor, barley Malt. Vinegar, too Malt extract, malt flavoring. Anytime it says anything malt related, that's almost 99% a hard no and it comes from barley.

Speaker 1:

We also want to look out for modified food starch. Now in the United States that is safe unless wheat is actually listed on that product. So modified food starch in general in the United States should be safe. I'm not sure of the regulations in other countries, but I'd love to hear your feedback if you have information on that. And then also wheat starch. This can be specially processed to be gluten-free, but only if it's labeled as such, so they can remove all the gluten and wheat starch potentially, if that's what they're trying to do and that's what they test for. But that's. It's just a really big caution not to eat anything that says wheat starch, also hydrolyzed wheat protein. That is definitely a no tamari. Then that is definitely a lot safer and many times there are some really good tamari brands out there that are soy sauce that have no wheat in it, that are very tasty and a great substitute if you're not sensitive to soy.

Speaker 1:

And then we also want to look for flavored chips, soups and gravies and broths. Those are very common to have either malt in it, so a barley type that might have flour in it to thicken it, especially the soups and the gravies. Broth can also have gluten in it. Sometimes I know that I find that I cannot eat conventional chicken that has broth injected into it because sometimes that has gluten in it, so I avoid any chicken that has broth added to it. So it's something to look out for. And actually interesting side note is sometimes you'll find a turkey that has a gravy packet inside the turkey and that is a definite no. I can tell you that from experience as a celiac. We thought it was going to be okay. It was in a sealed packet, but our whole family got sick Whenever we had that turkey that had, even though my husband took out the packet of gravy and tried to thoroughly rinse everything. Nope, it was not good enough. So make sure you're really careful when it comes to gravy, obviously, and even if it's in a sealed packet, like it wasn't that turkey.

Speaker 1:

And then I personally read labels by doing the following First I check for a certified gluten-free logo. If it's got that on there, then I feel comfortable and I feel safe. I have yet to been cross-contaminated or gotten sick from something that says certified gluten-free because they test routinely, test their lines and they also routinely check the ingredients and things like that. I also scan for an allergen warning. So if it says contains wheat, then I know it's a definite no. And then next I will read the ingredients list. If I don't see the certified gluten-free logo and I don't see the warning for it contains wheat, then I start reading the ingredients list. If I don't see the certified gluten-free logo and I don't see the warning for it contains wheat, then I start reading the ingredients list to look for those hidden sources, like we talked about above with the malt and the barley and malt extract and all those things.

Speaker 1:

And then I look for the risk statements. You know, shared in a shared facility or equipment with wheat, I look for those, and if it says that, as a celiac, I definitely say no to that, and if I'm unsure, I just skip it. You can definitely look it up and call the company if you would like, but most of the time I don't have time for that, so I just skip the product, unfortunately. So I've trained myself to do this in less than 30 seconds, and I'm probably even less than that, probably more like 10 or 15. I'm really good at picking out those words Now, and I'm probably even less than that, probably more like 10 or 15. I'm really good at picking out those words Now. Once you get the hang of it and once you get practice at it, you're going to find those words pretty quickly, and so what we want to do is we want to start with our brands that you trust and build from there. So here's some tips that we want to work on.

Speaker 1:

As you're, you know if you're not too far in this gluten-free journey, or if you are, but you want to explore some other items. We want to start with the brands you trust and build from there. There are many brands out there that have only gluten-free products, and so Ciete would be a brand that I can think of. That is like that and all their products are safe and all their products are delicious. I've not had one product from them that isn't delicious. So start with brands that you trust and go from there and then have a safe product list in your phone for grocery runs. If you need a little cheat sheet, have that safe product list in your phone. Ask companies questions. You can email them or call them. I know I've done this, especially for supplements that I wanted to try Say, I wanted, you know so, a protein powder or a vitamin supplement and I wanted to, you know, have that product because I needed that nutrient item, that, whether it's protein or a vitamin but I want to make sure that it was gluten free. So I have definitely called or emailed companies to make sure that it's gluten free and safe for me.

Speaker 1:

You can also join gluten free groups or crowdsource the information. We have an excellent gluten-free group, the Gluten-Free Engineer on Facebook. You can just search that and find us, and then you can also print or save a gluten-free ingredient cheat sheet and this is something we're actually going to have on our website. Check our show notes for this and you can get a gluten-free cheat sheet that you can use when you're out shopping to make your life a lot easier. So let's recap a little bit here.

Speaker 1:

So gluten-free doesn't always mean safe. Context definitely matters. We want to make sure it's not processed in a facility that's processed with wheat, if you're super sensitive or celiac. We want to make sure definitely it's not on a shared facility, shared lines, if you're celiac or super sensitive. The more you do this, the easier it's going to get. So practice equals peace of mind, and listen to your body every time you try a new food.

Speaker 1:

I would actually go so far as to recommend, you know, don't try more than one new gluten-free processed food at a time. That way you know if it's bothering you or not. And trust your gut, literally and figuratively. There have been times that I, you know, had a gut check. Ooh, do I really want to eat this item? Mentally gut, a mental to gut check there, and I was right to reread the label. So, seriously, use your gut, whether it's a literal or a figurative one, and that's going to help you keep safe. So hopefully these tips will help you read labels much easier, much faster. Make sure you grab that gluten-free guide that we have the downloadable PDF. That's on our website as well as in the show notes. We're going to link to it in the show notes and if this episode helped you feel more confident in the grocery store, be sure to subscribe to our podcast or share it with someone that you know is also living a gluten-free lifestyle.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Gluten-Free Engineer. If you found value in this story, please share it with someone who might need encouragement on their own gluten-free journey. For more tips, recipes, resources and even links to my YouTube channel, head on over to theglutenfreeengineercom. It's your one-stop hub to make gluten-free living simple, fun and full of flavor. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss out on an episode, and we will see you next week. The Gluten-Free Engineer podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The Gluten-Free Engineer podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. I share my personal experiences and stories about living with celiac disease and navigating a gluten-free lifestyle. This podcast does not provide medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for medical questions, concerns or advice specific to your health.

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Carrie Saunders

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