The gluten-free diet consists of avoiding all foods that contain gluten. These are the grains that contain gluten:
Oats is debated. It's not listed as a gluten grain in Canada, but it is in the United States because it is crop rotated with wheat and is often contaminated with gluten from wheat for this reason. I have been able to tolerate small amounts of oats in my diet, but I always feel like I am playing Russian Roulette when I choose to eat it. Sometimes I don't get away with it, so I usually try to avoid them.
If it was just a matter of avoiding anything that listed the above foods in the ingredients, it would be pretty simple and straight forward, albeit frustrating once you realized how many foods contained these items. However, it's more complicated than that, I found. Food companies hide gluten in a number of different ways and you need to be aware of the different ingredients that gluten hides in. For instance, citric acid can be a place gluten hides, but it depends on what the source of the citric acid is if it poses a problem. If the product comes from outside the United States, then you best avoid it because there is a good chance gluten is hiding in it. Citric acid in a product made in the United states is safe.
Here is a list of ingredient names that can hide gluten:
| Barely malt | Malt--check source--it could be rice malt which is ok. | Malt flavoring |
| Malt syrup | Bulgar | Couscous |
| Citric acid | Durum wheat | Farina |
| Flour | Frik | Graham Flour |
| Greunkern | HVP and HPP | Icing sugar |
| Mir | Modified Starch or Modified Food Starch--If it identifies the source of the starch as corn or some other gluten free item, then it's ok, otherwise call manufacturer. | MSG |
| Seitan | Semolina | Soy Sauce--may or may not contain gluten call manufacturer |
| TVP--may or may not contain gluten--call manufacturer |
This list is not exhaustive. For more information go to Celiac.com