Gluten Free vs Wheat Free

While I applaud restaurants, cafes and bakers trying to label their offerings to reach more people and provide culinary diversity, I do not love that food is mislabeled. A lot.

My kids and I have been 100% gluten free since 2006… yes, that’s almost 20 years without most things people take for granted: greasy pizza, spontaneous take-out on a road trip, or even a quick sweet craving when the mood strikes. While most humans have some sort of gluten intolerance (which is the result of GMO wheat and the toxic poison/herbicide Glyphosate - future blog post coming!), what is not commonly understood is that there is a big difference between labeling food as Gluten Free (GF) and Wheat Free (WF). Many dining establishments say that their food is GF, what they are really saying is that their food is wheat free, meaning, it was made without wheat.

However, it does not mean that their food is actually GF. Gluten hides in many other names and titles, making it hard to know what you are truly eating (wait, can’t that be said of our entire unhealthy food system?) I can’t even count the amount of times I have asked a server or counter staff, “Is this GF?” (even when the item is labeled GF), and they reply, “Yes, “gluten” isn’t listed in the ingredients list.” Ugh. Double ugh. “Gluten” the name will never, ever be listed in the ingredients list. One cannot read an ingredients list and have it say GLUTEN; they just don’t label food that way. Gluten is a hidden ingredient, masked under other ambiguous names, and, to top it off, they are not required to label Gluten in the ingredients.

The way forward: Look for Certified Gluten Free labels on every single food item. Do your research, both as a consumer and as a baker/food producer. Please. And never, ever say that your food is GF if you are not 110% positive it’s actually gluten free :)

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