Is this Gluten Free? 20 Questions!

24th July 2020
Blog post

I’ve written this with coeliacs in mind so if you’re gluten intolerant, there are some “may contains” in here you might be comfortable with eating! You know your own body 🙂

This also assumes you haven’t got a totally separate allergy to barley (i.e. you can’t tolerate barley even at coeliac safe levels of less than 20 ppm)

Lets go!! “Is this gluten free?”…


(1) Is Brown sauce gluten free? HP isn’t gluten free. But plenty of supermarket own brands are, like this one from Tesco.

(2) Are Lindt chocolate gluten free? SOME of them are. In terms of truffle balls, we can have white or strawberries and cream. We can also have a couple of the bunnies at Easter (will update you on that when we’re next there!). If you’re looking for a replacement for the milk truffle balls, Poundland, Aldi and Marks all have an equivalent.

(3) Is Oatibix/Oat Flakes gluten free? Nope. For coeliacs, oats have to be specifically gluten free. If you want to know more about oats, head to my post: 10 Most Common Questions about Coeliac Disease

(4) Is Salad cream gluten free? Heinz version is definitely fine. To be honest, I’m yet to come across one that isn’t gluten free. I’m guessing its the mustard powder that confused you? It used to confuse me too! So this might help…

(5) Is Mustard gluten free? Mustard powder itself is gluten free. The source of confusion is the fact that some mustards aren’t gluten free because they’ve had other bits added.

For example, Colman’s Original English Mustard. Ingredients are: “Water, MUSTARD flour (21%), sugar, salt, WHEAT flour, turmeric, citric acid, stabiliser (xanthan gum)”. The mustard is in bold because its one of the 14 allergens required to be labelled like that by law, but it is gluten free. The problem is the wheat flour.

(6) Is Birds Eye Custard Powder gluten free: yep, that’s fine. Dairy free too actually!

(7) Is Marmite gluten free? – not gluten free. But supermarket own brands are generally gluten free. They’re labelled “yeast extract”.

(8) Are Monster Munch gluten free – sadly they contain gluten but Lidl and Aldi have an equivalent that is safe. With both of those supermarkets, always check the label because they have a tendency to randomly change the ingredients from time to time.

(9) Are Doritos gluten free? – nope but there is a gluten free equivalent in Aldi and Lidl. Same message as above!

(10) Is Cadburys gluten free? – annoyingly every size is different. Some are may contains. You have to check them all I’m afraid. Coeliac UKs food checker app is amazing if you’re not confident with that. If you’re not sure how to use it, click on my guide here.

(11) Is Vimto gluten free? – yes! The level of gluten is below 20 ppm. As confirmed on their website.

(12) Is Gin gluten free? – totally fine. It loses any gluten present during the distillation process. Its only a problem if its had any flavourings added after the distillation process and then it would have to say “contains gluten” or one of the grains on the label. Watch this space for my alcohol guide!!

(13) Is Toberlone gluten free? – safe!!

(14) Is Snickers gluten free – also safe!!

(15) Is Ketchup & Mayo gluten free? haven’t found any that aren’t gluten free. Just be careful of the ones with flavourings.

(16) Are Coco Pops gluten free? – the originals aren’t but lots of supermarkets sell a free from version. You could also buy a supermarket own brand of rice pops (loads of them are gluten free) and add chocolate milk!

(17) Is Terrys Chocolate Orange gluten free?- nope, not gluten free I’m afraid. Terry can keep it!

(18) Is Worcestershire Sauce gluten free? – trickier one now – see point 5 from this

(19) Are Mars Bars gluten free? – mini or big – not gluten free but I’ve got a Mars Bar recipe and it surprisingly easy!! Lots of pics to help you along your way!!

(20) Is Baking Powder gluten free? – 90% of them are gluten free but there’s the odd sneaky one that contains gluten, like Co-op own for example (contains wheat – see pic below). So just check!!


**As always, check the labels for yourself in store just incase anything has changed – especially with cheeky Aldi and Lidl who like doing this regularly!!**


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2 Comments

  • alice

    4th May 2023 at 7:07 pm

    hi there. i noticed that you said that terry’s chocolate orange contains gluten, however it does not.

    1. jkitchengf

      4th May 2023 at 10:22 pm

      Hey – it’s a May contain so not suitable for coeliacs like me x

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