How To Tell If Spices Are Gf?

[westiepaws]

Does anyone know how you tell if your spices are gluten-free? My nutritionist says that any powdered form of a spice is suspect, because often wheat is used to keep it from clumping.

None of my powdered spices (chili powder, garlic powder, etc.) says it has wheat --but then labeling isn't all that great, as we all know. My nutritionist says that ironically we are safer getting spices that were packaged overseas because the labeling guides for imported foods are more stringent in the U.S. than they are for domestic food producers/packagers.

Does anybody have any guidance/experience on this topic? It is easy to find substitutes for garlic powder, onion powder, etc. -- just using the real thing, of course. But what do you substitute for chili powder, or for ground spices like cinnamon, thyme, etc.? I would appreciate any information or guidance anyone can offer. Right now I just have all the suspect spices (and there are a LOT of them) in a bag in my pantry so I can't use them by accident.

Thanks!

[KaitiUSA]

Spices can be questionable because they use wheat to prevent clumping sometimes. McCormick spices will say on the bottle you buy it in whether or not it contains gluten. They will not hide any gluten.

[celiac3270]

The only way to know is to call the company. It is questionable, so, except for with McCormick, you need to call....same as you do with natural/artificial flavors and modified food starch (with most companies, except those that list gluten clearly on the label).

[tarnalberry]

The vast majority of pure spices are gluten-free - I've yet to see a company that actually does use wheat to prevent clumping in pure spices, but when in doubt, ALWAYS call. (Realistically, using wheat would be disadvantagous - both changing the taste and the cooking properties...) Seasoning mixes, on the other hand, are more likely to contain a potentially offending ingredient (like MFS), and are yet more important to call on.

[KaitiUSA]

yes a majority are but it only takes one to gluten you so definitely check unless you have a company like McCormick....I saw something in the grocery store that said wheat right in the spice It was not McCormick...I forgot the brand but it said it right on the label.

[lovegrov]

I'm NOT telling people not to check, but it's juts not true that wheat is "often" used for possible clumping (actually, I think the main reason it's used is to make some spice mixtures stick better when they're sprinkled on). Anyway, I can't remember the last time I found one that didn't already have the wheat listed.

richard