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Gluten-Free Diet

CSA Gluten-Free Product Listing

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

Looking for an all-inclusive list of gluten-free products? Unfortunately, I don’t think something like that exists, but one of the best resources I’ve found to date is the CSA Gluten-Free Product Listing (binder or CD) that is available from CSA Celiacs.

The listing is researched yearly and compiled by CSA National Headquarters staff, with input from manufacturers, vendors, distributors, diet and health professionals, CSA chapters, and members.

The listing includes the following:

  • Wide variety of gluten-free products—both store brands and national brands
  • Descriptions/contact information for businesses specializing in gluten-free products
  • Expanded glossary of terms
  • Celiac-friendly business listings by state
  • Call numbers for commercial food and pharmaceutical companies
  • Informational sections on label reading, the celiac kitchen, dining and travel, hospital stay preparation, and diet self-management

They are currently working on the 13th edition, so it has been around for quite a while (as long as I can remember). I’ve always gotten the binder and it is bulky but is great to have. Just don’t plan on taking it to the grocery store with you.

Learning How to Read Grocery Labels

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

If you are new to Celiac Disease, the first and most important thing you need to learn is how to understand food labels.  More specifically, you need to learn how to find the most notable gluten-containing grains (wheat, barley, rye, and oats), which are often hidden in products.

The safety of oats in the celiac diet has been under a great deal of debate for as long as I can remember. Some celiacs cannot tolerate oats because oats contain a protein similar to that in gluten. In addition, cross-contamination with other grains can occur during processing. There are a few companies that manufacture a gluten-free oat, but it must say so on the label.  Millet and sorghum are other grains that have not been tested for gluten but are tolerated by many celiacs as they are more botanically similar to corn than wheat.

Some other notable gluten-containing grains include:

  • Bran
  • Couscous
  • Semolina
  • Kamut
  • Spelt
  • Matzo
  • Pasta
  • Triticale
  • Sprouted wheat
  • Udon
  • Seitan
  • Malt, malt flavoring, or malt vinegar

Easy enough, right?  Unfortunately, there are also many situations where the source of gluten is not so obvious. Many other types of foods and food additives contain gluten.

Hidden sources of gluten include:

  • Soy sauce
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
  • Breading
  • Imitation meat, bacon, and seafood
  • Processed lunch meats
  • Gravies and marinades
  • Some salad dressings
  • Stuffing, dressings
  • Thickeners
  • Some drugs, over-the-counter medications, and vitamins
  • Broth, soup bases
  • Communion wafers
  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Vinegar
  • Horseradish
  • Some peanut butter and “dry roasted” peanuts
  • Modified food starch
  • Artificial flavoring or coloring

Now this list was not designed to be “all-inclusive”, but it should serve as a starting guide to reading grocery labels and finding all those pesky glutens.

If you have anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments below!

Educating Others About the Gluten-Free Diet

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

This may seem like a recurring theme here at Celiac Disease, but I believe creating awareness of Celiac Disease and the gluten-free diet is the responsibility of all of us.

Here we do our best to feature some of the best work you guys are doing, write some original content of our own, and of course to provide a bunch of resources and other information for the Celiac community. For others who don’t have the ability to create websites, forums, or directories, there are other things you can do to help promote the cause and increase awareness (which is especially needed here in the United States).

If you read the Chicago Sun-Times, you might have noticed the story of Sunshine Best, a young woman with Celiac Disease who has made it her mission to educate as many people as possible about the disease and the importance of strictly following the gluten-free diet:

At her online bakery, www.rise andshinedesserts.com, the fruits of her labor are evident: vegan sunflower cookies, cassava coconut loaf, key lime pound cake and whole grain cornbread all attest to her creativity and the quality of her cooking. Her philosophy is simple: “Teach young people about basic nutrition needs, what foods meet those needs and flavorful, inexpensive ways on how to prepare them. People have to know there is a better option that is accessible to them.”

Her drive to educate and share her passions led her to establish Your Safe Kitchen, a special diet and culinary instruction consulting service. Through referrals from dieticians and naturopaths, Best helps people create recipes, clear pantries and cupboards of potentially harmful foods, and show them the basics of shopping and cooking in a gluten-free, allergy-free lifestyle. Those interested in booking private cooking classes or other services may reach Best at www.yoursafekitchen.com.

What are you doing to increase Celiac awareness in your area?

Tips for Baking Gluten-Free Bread in a Bread Machine

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever tried to make homemade gluten-free bread using a bread machine, you have probably learned that there can be quite a learning curve. This is especially true for someone who isn’t using a bread machine that was specifically built to handle baking gluten-free bread.

If you’d like to learn more about baking gluten-free bread in a bread machine, you’ll want to check out gluten-free Cooking School. The author recently took the time to write a very informative post that answers some reader questions about baking their own gluten-free bread.

Here is a small excerpt:

2. The bread machine directions says I have to put in the wet ingredients, then the dry, then a small hole for the yeast. That’s not how your gluten-free bread recipe goes. Since I’ve never used a bread machine before this one, I’m not sure if I will hurt the machine by not using the paddle and just putting it all in.

Either method should be fine. The reason that I mix the dough in a bowl and then bake the bread without the bread machine paddle, is that I’ve lost the paddle. After years of baking without a paddle, my machine is not showing any ill effects. However, I used to follow the normal bread and you should be able to do that with my recipe without any problems.

If you are interested in learning more, click over to check out the other questions and answers!

Confusing Gluten-Free Product Labels

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Do you ever get confused by the variety of labels on products these days? If you spend time looking for gluten-free products, you’ll probably see a large variety of labels, ranging from any of the following:

  • Gluten-Free.
  • Wheat Free/No Wheat
  • Made in a gluten-free facility.
  • Made in a gluten-free facility that also processes nuts.
  • Made in a gluten-free facility that also processes grains.

I’ve always found this confusing and sometimes frustrating, and apparently, I am not the only one. The cohort at gluten-free Cookie Federation has shared thoughts on this very subject:

So, you’ve noticed all the variants on all the packages….What does the CookieFed consider GF? Basically if they make a stab at it and label it GF and it doesn’t make us sick we’ll consider it GF. I can’t say that I have come across any GF labeled stuff that made me sick, but I have eaten a number of things that did not have any ingredients containing gluten that did make me sick (various cerials, frozen dishes, ice creams etc.).

But my favorite confusing label is “No Wheat. Not gluten-free.” Why bother saying no wheat if you have the gluten?

I don’t think there is any doubt that this system is better than it was even 3 years ago, but there is always room for improvement.   What would you change about the current product labeling system to help make things easier for Celiacs?