ALWAYS read the label...TWICE

It goes without saying that you should always read the label before assuming it is gluten free. There are a few exceptions, such as bananas or potatoes, but if it's in a package: read the label! Don't read it once, read it twice. I have been on this diet for over 5 years and I read labels in the store. Yet, I have found even this week, that I can sometimes miss an ingredient. My older daughter (age 14 now) is also on the GF diet so we can "check" each other on the labels. In fact, not long after my diagnosis, she was the one who caught "wheat" on the Doritos Nacho Cheese flavor chips. Interestingly, my local store brand (HEB) does NOT (or at last check did not) put wheat in that particular style of chip.

This weekend I found a box of Planters Nut Bars covered with chocolate. Since most granola and other snack bars contain gluten, I assumed these would. I read the label and did not see any gluten ingredients. We were in a hurry, so I tossed the box in the basket and went on my way. We were in the car with me driving, so I asked my 12 year old to hand me a bar. Then, I had the thought to ask her to read the label to me, just so I could be sure. She was near the end of the list when I heard the dreaded word, the one that ruins anything potentially gluten free that is wheat-free: MALT. UGH! Barley. Gluten. YUCK!

There are so many "hidden" sources of gluten that label reading becomes a science unto itself. Even with years of practice, it is so easy to miss one of those ingredients (for that matter, I've missed the word WHEAT on a label but caught it before I ate the food). Don't even assume if the label says, "Gluten Free" that it is. I recently purchased a health supplement that said gluten free on the label. Then it listed "Wheat Dextrin" as an ingredient. It listed the amount of wheat in the product and was apparently a small enough amount to pass as GF. Yet, the ingredient was near the top of the list. I didn't trust it and didn't take it. Since Dextrin is typically a sweetener, it could be that Wheat Dextrin does not contain the protein known as gluten, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Happy Label Reading!