Gluten-Filled Foods To Beware

The following ingredients signal a food contains gluten:

Barley                        

Beer                           

Bread crumbs             

Bulgur                        

Cereal extract             

Couscous                   

Cracker meal        

Durum

Farina                         

Flour (unless derived    

      from a safe grain)

Graham

Kamut

Matzoh, matzoh meal

Oats

Rye

Seitan

Semolina

Spelt

Triticale

Wheat (including bran,

germ, starch)

The following ingredients may contain gluten:*

Brown rice syrup

Caramel color

Dextrin (if it is wheat derived)

Flour and cereal products

Hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein (HVP or HPP)

Malt, malt flavoring, malt vinegar

Modified food starch

Soy sauce

Textured vegetable protein (TVP)

* These ingredients should not be eaten unless you can verify that they are not derived from grains known to contain gluten.

Treatment Options

There are no drugs to treat celiac disease, and there is no cure. The only treatment is lifetime avoidance of gluten. This means no breads, baked products, pastas, or cereals made with wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, barley, or oats (although there is currently some controversy over oats, which will be discussed shortly).

But the list doesn't stop there. Many ingredients in processed foods are derived from the off-limit grains, including thickeners, fillers, and stabilizers in foods such as canned soups, luncheon meats, salad dressings, ice cream, pudding, pie, chewing gum, beer, canned tuna, and hot dogs, to name just a few. Even medications and mouthwash may contain gluten.

If you have celiac disease, the following are important safety steps to help you avoid gluten:

  • Know the many ingredients that may harbor the forbidden gluten.
  • Check the label of every food very carefully.
  • Contact food and medication manufacturers if ingredients are unclear or there is any question.
  • Get guidance from a doctor or dietitian experienced in working with people who have celiac disease.
  • Learn from others who suffer from the disease.
  • Avoid a food if there is any doubt about its ingredients, because every exposure to even a small amount of gluten causes intestinal damage.

©Publications International, Ltd.This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.