Is glucose syrup considered to be gluten-free? If you aren’t familiar with it, glucose syrup is a liquid sweetener found in many candies and other desserts that contains wheat starch. Obviously, anything with “wheat” in the name throws up some red flags to anyone following a gluten-free diet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it contains wheat.
As a result, over the past year or so there has been some debate over whether glucose syrup is considered to be gluten-free or not, so Sure Foods Living recently spoke with a dietitian to find out some additional information. In their post, they shared their findings, and I thought our readers would probably find this information useful, so I am providing a small excerpt:
Glucose syrup can be derived from a variety of starches including wheat. Corn is the most common however Europe uses wheat more frequently. The glucose syrups are highly processed and purified and R5 elisa tests have found the majority to contain very little residual gluten if any. The European Food Safety put out a report on the safety of glucose syrups. Here is the link for more info:
wheat-based glucose syrups
Based on the FDA proposed gluten-free labeling regulation a product can be derived from a gluten-containing grain such as wheat based glucose syrup and be labeled gluten-free yet the ingredients could say glucose syrup (wheat) provided it is under 20 parts per million (ppm). This will be very confusing for patients as we teach them to avoid wheat and yet a product like glucose syrup may have no or very little residual gluten and be labeled gluten-free.”
Click over to read the entire post!
I have been a coeliac for 18mths and have been eating glucose syrup derived from wheat. I read in my Australian Coeliac handbook that is was considered gluten free. I have had no complications from consuming this product! Go ahead and enjoy!!!
It’s considered gf in the states as well. It once was condsidered to contain gluten though that was cleared up in 2007. It’s hard for ‘newbies’ to learn was is and is not safe with outdated info on line…or in newly published gluten free diet books (G Free) for that matter….
mykids suffer from coeliac and i’ like to know if glucoe syrup in Canada and the UK is gluten free.
I wish the same could be said for me. Unfortunately I do not believe wheat glucose syrup is safe on a gluten free diet as I react to it just like bread crumbs.
Please, know that your body is OK with it before diving into products laden with it!;)
I’m not a coeliac but I am intolerant to wheat, therefore I react strongly to a wheat based glucose syrup. therefore I try to avoid all items that have glucose syrup in the ingredients as it does not specify if it’s wheat based or not….
I’m on the look out for glucose/dextrose, gluten free recipes. I’ve replaced sugar with dextrose and my arthritis is less painful – so some recipes that are sugar free and gluten free, using glucose would be appreciated. Thanks in anticipation.
My daughter is Celiac and has been so sick from eating hidden wheat based glucose in SO MANY FOODS that I actually thought she was allergic to glucose itself…I had her tested and she is not, so there is no one in the world that can tell me she is not having a reaction to the gluten in it, or the wheat in it, and I don’t care how many PPM is “safe”.
@ Nicole: Exactly. I can’t believe they dare to say glucose is safe.