Newb - Can't I Just Look At The Label?

[Bansaw]

I'm investigating if I have gluten intolerance/Celiac and am now looking at labels as I shop.

Someone told me that Soy Sauce has gluten in it, or Tomato ketchup as well for example.

I bought Heinze ketchup and found no mention of gluten but their website says its gluten free.

My soy sauce ingredients are Water, Salt, Hydrogiezed soy protein, corn syrup, caramel color, potassium sorbate.

Wheres the Gluten in that?

Is the only sure way to discern if a product has Gluten to contact the manufacturer?

Help!

ps: I bought corn flakes and "honey nut Oat O's" from Trader Joes, and contact them. They have gluten in they said!!! I thought buying oats I was safe, but..... ... confused.:s

[psawyer]

Most ketchups are okay, but always read the label. Heinz ketchups are all gluten-free except for the organic one.

Most soy sauces, but not all, have wheat as the first ingredient. In Canada, VH is gluten-free, but it is not available in the US. San-J is gluten-free.

[psawyer]

When reading labels, there are safe ingredients. Those are ones that you know do not contain gluten, such as, say, corn starch.

There are unsafe ingredients, which always have gluten, such as flour or malt.

Then there are a lot which can contain gluten, but don't always. With these, you need to know the company's labeling policy. If they have a policy to clearly disclose all gluten sources, then you don't need to worry about those iffy ingredients.

The following companies/brands will clearly disclose gluten sources by using the name of the grain in the ingredient list. Look for wheat, rye, barley or oats. If you don't see any of those words, the product does not contain gluten.

Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Smucker, Stokely's, Sunny Delight, T Marzetti, Tyson, Unilever, Wishbone, Yoplait, Zatarain's.

With other companies, if you find something dubious like "modified food starch," then you need to ask. If in doubt, don't eat it.

[missy'smom]

"Celiac.com 11/09/2004 - While oats do not appear to naturally contain gluten, like other grains they can become contaminated during harvesting, transporting, milling and processing. "

And the oat crop in the U.S. is considered to be contaminated.

So we have to buy certified gluten-free oats from one of a a few dedicated growers/processers. Bob's Red Mill, Cream Hill Estates and Gifts of Nature are the three that come to mind. Any oats listed in ingredient lists on products are not gluten-free oats and are not safe to consume. It is recommended that you wait until you are in remission to introduce oats back into your diet and that you do so slowly, in small quantities because a small percentage still react to a compound in oats like gluten.

Here is a list of unsafe/questionable ingredients.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsaf...ents/Page1.html

By law wheat is required to be listed clearly, barley and gluten are not. So we have to familiarize ourselves with what ingredients can be made from barley and look for them, then, yes, contact the manufacturer if we see those ingredients and are unsure. It's a pain but our health is worth it.

[Juliebove]

Oats could be contaminated with gluten unless they say gluten free. There is no gluten in and of itself in an oat. But the problem is the way they are grown, stored and transported. CC is very likely. There are a few farmers who have dedicated themselves to growing oats and only oats. They make sure they do not come in contact with wheat or other gluten containing foods at any point in the manufacturing process. You will of course pay more for them.

[Lisa]

Here is a listing of US Companies whose policy is to clearly list all forms of gluten, so there's no guessing.

Open Original Shared Link

Wheat, by law is required to be listed if it is in the ingredients. Barley, Malt and Rye do not need to be listed.

Some Companies can be suspect when the list Natural Ingredients or Spieces. That's when you need to call the company.