What’s In A Gluten Free Bread?

We've talked about misleading gluten free foods in our blog and we've got many people surprised with the hidden gluten in foods that disguise as gluten free. The time has come where I wish to share tips on identifying gluten free breads that are what they say to be and what about them that are misleading.

Before we jump into the details, the most important thing to notice - for ANY food item - IS THE INGREDIENT LABEL. That will avoid a lot of honest (but deadly) mistakes. You don't want to buy a bread that you though that was gluten free and end up with rashes and bloating! Let’s say the product you are looking at doesn't have any ingredient labels or the website doesn't mention any ingredients, forget about getting the product because that shows the producer or the seller neglects the importance of selecting the right ingredients and informing their customers about it. Move on to the next and appropriate product! 

Now, when you are reading the labels for gluten free foods, you are looking to pick out the wheat family. That is where the gluten is. Not all wheat family grains have the word 'wheat' in it so you have to know what grains you are looking for. Here are some of the most commonly used grains and wheat derivatives that contain gluten.  

Gluten-Containing Grains and Their Derivatives

• Wheat - of course!
  Varieties and derivatives of wheat such as:
• wheatberries
• durum
• emmer
• semolina
• spelt
• farina
• farro
• graham
• KAMUT® khorasan wheat
• einkorn wheat
• Rye
• Barley
• Triticale
• Malt in various forms including: malted barley flour, malted milk or milkshakes, malt extract, malt syrup, malt flavoring, malt vinegar
• Brewer’s Yeast
• Wheat Starch that has not been processed to remove the presence of gluten to below 20ppm and adhere to the FDA Labeling Law1

Reference: Celiac Disease Foundation

Surprising list right? At our shop we typically get a shocked face when we tell our customers that our spelt bread and rye bread contain gluten. 

Another shocking thing is that most breads have a blend of flours - in fact this is pretty common and most breads are not made with just a single type of flour, so you really need to look at the ingredients label and not rely on the product name. 

For example, here at Foodcraft we have 2 breads with the name 'buckwheat' in it. Buckwheat is a grain that has the word 'wheat' in it but is actually is NOT the wheat family and DOES NOT contain gluten - another tricky one but a must-know!

Some of you might know that buckwheat is gluten free but don't skip the label-reading here. Let's look into this together. 

Organic Sourdough Buckwheat Bread with Sprouted Sunflower Seeds

Ingredients: Organic wheat flour*, filtered water, sprouted buckwheat*, sprouted sunflower seeds*, cacao powder*, raw honey*, Extra Virgin Olive Oil*, Himalayan Crystal Salt, Naturally occurring lactobacilli/yeast

*organic

The ingredients go in order of amount used! You can see that the first ingredient is wheat flour and that means we use this more than the buckwheat. This is definitely NOT gluten free.

Let's look at another one.

Organic Dark Rye Sourdough Bread

Ingredients: Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour, Filtered water, Himalayan Crystal Salt, Naturally Occurring Lactobacilli/Yeast.

...Did I trick you??  Yes!! Rye has gluten!! So yes, this is definitely NOT gluten free!! 

Now with this label-reading guide, I trust in you to easily answer these commonly asked questions.


Is cornbread gluten free? 

What do you think? Shall we check the ingredients? 

Ingredients 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
⅔ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
(Recipe from: allrecipes.com ) 

Although corn is a gluten free grain, unfortunately, cornbread turners out NOT  gluten free. Wheat flour and cornmeal is used 1:1 in this recipe

Shall we try another one? 

Is zucchini bread gluten free? 

What is your guess? 

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
(Recipe from: allrecipes.com ) 

Looks like wheat flour is used than zucchini. So, the answer is no, its NOT gluten free. 

Not to worry, we have a wide range of freshly baked gluten free breads all made in our kitchen in Hong Kong (not shipped frozen!). If you are on a gluten free diet but need that bread fix, you know where to find us! 

We also have a lot of cooking classes that are focused on gluten free cooking, so come and join us to learn more about a gluten free lifestyle!