Got Gluten? 15 Foods to Avoid on a Gluten-Free Diet

By Jacqueline Raposo

You eat the quinoa but refuse the couscous. You nosh the french fries but pass the pasta. You know exactly which foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet. Then you realize vinegar chips are doused with barley malt (glutened!). Or learn your gluten-free pizza joint doesn’t use a dedicated gluten-free oven (cross-contaminated!).

For those with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance, navigating the minefield of safe foods takes constant vigilance. For those cooking or ordering catered gluten-free meals, the list of foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet may seem daunting.

To start: Gluten is a composite of proteins found in the grains wheat, barley, and rye, and wheat derivatives spelt, couscous, and kamut. Gluten-free grains like quinoa, flax, millet, sorghum, and buckwheat (such a deceiving name!) don’t contain these proteins. Nor do vegetables or meat. In a perfect world, gluten-free foods would simply not have these forbidden grains. But it’s not always easy to identify foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet. When age-old cooking techniques and modern food science combine, gluten pops up in too many unexpected places.

Here are fifteen unexpected foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet, and where the gluten’s hiding.

The Pantry

Gluten sneaks into food items by way of bulking and thickening agents, making your office pantry-items list the first place to look when checking foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet. Nowadays, certified gluten-free brands abound. But it’s safer to assume these items contain gluten than take that risk.

• Soy Sauce: Traditionally, soy sauce is made from soybeans that are steamed, fermented, and aged with wheat berries added for aroma and sweetness. Nowadays, most major brands also manufacture wheat-free soy sauce — tamari — using only soybeans, or adding rice for sweetness. But in general, soy sauce is a no-go.
• Salad Dressings: Dressings encompass several danger zones. They often contain “modified food starch” that binds ingredients together and keeps them creamy. Those starches can be made from corn, potatoes, or wheat — and manufacturers don’t specify. Rich balsamic vinegar may get its golden kick from caramel color derived from barley malt. And if a dressing uses malt vinegar itself, then gluten’s in the barley that makes the malt!
• Ground spice mixes: Gluten hides as an anti-caking agent in blends that mix many spices together like curry, cajun, and berbere blends. These extend shelf life, prevent sticking, and make them foods to avoid on a gluten-free diet.
• Pickles: Vegetables are gluten-free! But pickles?! Those require confirmation. Pickles brined in white vinegar are safe. But those brined in malt vinegar — made from malt alcohol which, again, is made from barley! — are off limits.
• Instant coffee: Instant coffee often contains gluten as a bulking agent. Powdered milk added to coffee mixes often contains wheat for bulking and anti-caking, too.

Finish reading our list here.