What are gluten-free foods? They are foods made without wheat, barley, rye, malt, or oats.  From bread, to pasta, to cake, almost any food can be made without gluten (and be delicious).

Defining it also depends on your particular situation – whether you have celiac disease, are gluten intolerant, or are removing gluten from your life for health or diet reasons.

The amount of gluten in food (or beverage) is measured in parts per million (ppm). Obviously, a product with an amount of zero ppm is completely gluten-free. However, most doctors and Celiac’s accept amounts up to 20 ppm as okay for consumption.

Different people have different levels of tolerance.  In the following sections as I talk about various foods and brands, please be conscious that you may have sensitivities to foods listed even though the manufacturer claims they are free of gluten.

Also note that since the Food & Drug Administration have not yet set a measurement defining what is gluten-free, the amount in parts per million varies widely across products.

What foods are gluten-free at my grocery store?

Produce

You know, fruits and vegetables. You’re safe with pretty much any fruit or vegetable. If you are buying or eating from a veggie tray, the dip may not be gluten-free. We always just buy the veggies and make our own tray with something like Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing which is okay.

Meats

Most meats are gluten-free. However, you have to avoid pre-spiced or pre-flavored meats. Also, you must watch out for things like sausage or hot dogs which may have gluten in the fillers or casing. That being said, there are several brands of sausage and hot dogs that are fine.

Finally, pre-packaged deli meats are a safer alternative than having them sliced at the deli counter. The slicers and counters in the deli are places where it is likely your food will be cross-contaminated with gluten.

Bakery

Often, baked gluten-free foods are found in your grocer’s freezer aisle or in the “natural foods” aisle.

Rest assured that there are great-tasting gluten-free breads available now. Two years ago, most people avoided gluten-free bread because the options available were not so good!

Beverages

Again, several familiar brands you know offer gluten-free beverages. For example, Gatorade and G2 products have no gluten, nor do any Starbucks bottled beverages. Most popular sodas are okay as well – including Coke and Pepsi.

Go for 100% juice when shopping for juices. As far as kids drinks, Capri Sun, Juicy Juice, and Apple & Eve juices are all gluten-free.

Dairy Products

Plain milk, half and half, eggs, real butter, sour cream, and whipping cream are generally okay. You just have to be cautious of added ingredients like flavorings.

Yogurts are not always gluten-free. Brands like Stonyfield and Tillamook offer wide varieties of flavors that are safe, but with other brands you are best off sticking with the plain yogurt flavor until you know for sure what other flavors are gluten-free.

Cheeses are generally gluten-free. The biggest threat that comes up is blue cheese which some argue is cross contaminated via the molding process. However, scientific studies have proven blue cheese to be okay even when the molding process is started with gluten bread. This is one of those areas where it is up to you to decide how you feel about this and how you react to eating it.

Baking

You’ll find a wide selection of gluten-free baking goods are available today. Mainstream brands like Betty Crocker and General Mills have easy-to-use gluten-free baking mixes for cakes, muffins, cookies, and brownies.

Ingredients like baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, and many spices are gluten-free as well.  So are several pie-fillings and the corresponding ingredients you need to make pie. All you’ll need to make is a gluten-free crust (which isn’t hard).

Dry Foods

Fortunately, there are great gluten-free pastas available.  Tinkyada has been making gluten-free pasta from rice flour for years and they offer a full range of types like rotini, penne, lasagna, and spaghetti.

Rice is gluten-free and so are corn tortillas (soft and hard).

Sauces, Dressings, and Spreads

A number of pasta sauces are gluten-free like some from Classico, Newman’s Own and Prego. You’ll also find many salad dressings are too like many from Newman’s Own and from Kraft. Some are not gluten-free though, so you do have to pay attention to which are are which are not.

Condiments like French’s Mustard and Heinz Ketchup are also gluten-free. However, most soy sauce is made from wheat and is NOT gluten-free. Look for Tamari Soy Sauce – it’s pretty much identical.

Snacks

Numerous brands of chips, candy, and nuts are gluten-free. Avoid Milky Way regular, Twizzlers, and Nacho Cheese Doritos. But Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, and Cool Ranch Doritos are gluten-free.

Further Resources

Now that you have a high-level overview of what are gluten-free foods, you need a good list of gluten-free foods. As I mentioned at the beginning of this page, I have written a book called Gluten-Free Diet: A Shopping Guide which is a guide that gives you over 200 pages of gluten-free products neatly categorized to make it an easy shopping companion.

Other factors to consider:  cross contamination, deep-fryers, sensitivity to other foods like dairy, shampoo and other skin-care products, and play-doh.