Recognizing Gluten-Free Foods at a Glance

Keep in mind that you have to become familiar with lots of ingredients when you're learning the intricacies of the gluten-free diet.

The reason the gluten-free diet can seem cumbersome at first is that "derivatives" of gluten-containing grains may contain gluten. Then, of course, processed foods — which contain seasonings, additives, and flavorings — can contain ingredients that raise questions, too.

But breaking foods down into those that usually have gluten and those that don't isn't too tough. Keep in mind that these lists vary and that they're only to get you started. You can find up-to-date lists of foods that are safe, forbidden, and questionable at Celiac.com.

Forbidden grains

The forbidden grains to list is a lot shorter than the list of grains you caneat. Here are the grains you need to avoid on a gluten-free diet:

• Barley

• Oats (because of contamination issues)

• Triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye)

• Rye

• Wheat

You need to avoid (or at least question) anything with the word wheat in it. This includes hydrolyzed wheat protein, wheat starch, wheat germ, and so on. Wheat grass, however, like all grasses, is gluten-free. Here are a few additional details to keep in mind:

• Wheat starch is actually wheat that's had the gluten washed out. In some countries, a special type of wheat starch called Codex Alimentarius wheat starch is allowed on the gluten-free diet — but it's not allowed in North America, because some people question whether the washing process completely removes all residual gluten.

• Triticale is a made-up grain — a hybrid of wheat and rye. Inventors developed it to combine the productivity of wheat with the ruggedness of rye, not just to add another grain to your list of forbidden foods. And relatively speaking, it's fairly nutritious for people who can eat gluten.

Wheat has several names and varieties. Beware of aliases like flour, bulgur, semolina, spelt, frumento, durum (also spelled duram), kamut, graham, einkorn, farina, couscous, seitan, matzoh, matzah, matzo, and cake flour. Often marketed as a "wheat alternative," spelt is not even remotely gluten-free.

• Wheat just isn't what it used to be. In fact, in an effort to bring down the cost of commercial baked goods and make wheat slightly more nutritious for the countries the U.S. ships to, ambitious farmers are actually finding ways to hybridize wheat to make it have more gluten than ever before.

Derivatives of gluten-containing grains aren't allowed on the gluten-free diet, either. You can find a complete listing at Celiac.com, but the most common derivative that you have to avoid is malt, which usually comes from barley. Avoid malt, malt flavoring, and malt vinegar. If malt is derived from another source, such as corn, that fact usually appears on the label. If not specified, though, don't eat it.