Gluten-free Products for Everyday Use

When someone first starts the gluten-free diet, they are often overwhelmed and inundated with incorrect information about what is and is not gluten-free. Recently, I’ve seen several outdated statements online about several items that are staples of our gluten-free kitchen. With gluten being in so many products that you would never suspect it, it’s really best to try and not avoid perfectly safe products. The below list of items are things that some people mistakenly think contain gluten. In some cases, mainstream brand of the items might contain gluten, but gluten-free versions are available (and have been for a while). As always, ingredients can and do change – so label reading is needed to confirm the items are gluten-free when you are considering purchasing them. Unfortunately, unless an item is labeled gluten-free, you need to read the label every time you buy it, to make sure it’s still gluten-free. Please note this list and the brands listed is not comprehensive.

• Soy Sauce – Most brands of soy sauce sold in the U.S. contain gluten. San-J makes a wheat-free labeled soy sauce that is also gluten-free. They also make soy sauces that contain gluten so always check the label. La Choy soy sauce is gluten-free (so says the company that makes it), but it is not labeled that way. La Choy Teriyaki sauce is also gluten-free. This is a good brand to use in sauces in marinades, but most people won’t use it for something like sushi.

• Barbecue Sauce – It is almost more common to find gluten in barbecue sauces served in restaurants, than in those sold in grocery stores. Bone Suckin‘ brand makes several gluten-free barbecue sauces and they are labeled gluten-free. Many barbecue sauces are gluten-free and are not labeled that way. Sweet Baby Ray’s makes some gluten-free barbecue sauces, as does Kraft.

• Worcestershire Sauce – The Lea & Perrins brand is gluten-free and so is the French’s brand. I paid only $.97 for a bottle of the French’s sauce which was less than half the price of the Lea & Perrins version.

• Blue Cheese* – Some blue cheese manufacturers will not state that their products are gluten-free, but that doesn’t mean they contain gluten. It could mean however, that the manufacturer doesn’t care about our business. GIG recently worked with The Melting Pot and the blue cheese the company uses is gluten-free. Rosenberg is our preferred brand because the company states their blue cheese is gluten-free. However, celiac experts and nutritionists agree that blue cheese is considered gluten-free, even in the rare cases that the mold used to make it is started with bread. The first tests that proved this date back to 1991, with updates done in the last couple of years by the Canadian Celiac Association.

• Salad Dressings – Many mainstream dressings are gluten-free even though they are not labeled as such. Kraft has many gluten-free versions and so does Newman’s Own – to name a couple. We like Drew’s brand dressings at our house and their single serve packets are great for travel. Not all the dressings from this line are gluten-free, but the types that are have “gluten-free” on the label.

There are many other items that people new to the gluten-free diet are often confused by, but the ones listed above are the ones people contact me about the most often. They are often shocked to find out there is a such a thing as gluten-free blue cheese, beer and soy sauce. It’s no wonder then, that some people think it’s so hard to follow the gluten-free diet. They might be missing out on enjoying some perfectly safe foods that make gluten-free living not only easier – but tastier as well!

*Reference – The Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide by Shelley Case.

**For information on gluten-free brands, check out the Gluten-Free Grocery Guide.