The Gluten–Free Diet Guide for Parents:

Gluten-Free Product Labeling

Intro	Gluten-Free Shopping List
Gluten, Celiac Disease, and Teens	Preparing Gluten-Free Food At Home
Foods Your Teen Should Avoid	Eating Gluten-Free Away From Home
Safe Foods for Your Teen	Sample Gluten-Free Menu for Your Teen
Gluten-Free Product Labeling	Gluten-Free Recipes for Teens
Gluten-Free Food Shopping

How can I tell if a food is gluten–free?

A product stamped with the Certified GF Gluten–Free label is the fastest and easiest way to identify a gluten–free product. Manufactures can add this label if they comply with the FDA rule “gluten–free”.

Another way to tell if the product contains gluten is to read the allergen statement on packaged foods. The FDA food allergen labeling law requires food companies to label all foods that have wheat or contain wheat products. The allergen statement is found at the end of the ingredient list on packaged goods. Read the allergen statement, if it says “contains wheat”, it is a “red–light food”.

The food labeling law does NOT cover barley, rye, or oats. This means if the allergy statement does not include wheat, you should then read through the ingredient list for all of the other possible sources of gluten. If you don't see any of those words in the ingredient list, then the food is most likely a “green–light food”.

In the sample ingredient label below, the ingredients are circled in red and the allergy statement is circled in blue. The food, which contains whole grain wheat, is a “red–light food”.

Previous

Next: Gluten-Free Food Shopping

Written and reviewed by the CYWH Staff at Children's Hospital Boston

Updated: 8/2/2011

Related Guides:

Nutrition Facts Label

The amount of each nutrient on the label is what is found in one serving of that food, not in the whole container. If you don't know what one serving size is, you won’t know the amount of each nutrient you are actually eating...