Unexpected Places to Find Gluten at Christmas: 2023

Christmas Day can be so busy and there tends to be food everywhere so its even easier to make an mistake with one of my “unexpected placed to find gluten at Christmas”!!

I’ve included a list of Christmas related foods below, all of which could contain gluten but you might not expect it! Not ALL brands will contain gluten, but some do so its just a warning for the ones to be extra careful with!

Its broken into 3 sections: mains, drinks and snacks.

Mains

• Gravy – e.g. Bisto powder below. Also, sometimes supermarket own fresh pots are fine but the pouches contain gluten (e.g. Tesco’s below) so don’t just think its the same product in different packaging!
• Stock cubes – e.g. Oxo cubes
• Turkey basting – if you’re at someone’s house, just double check what they’ve basted the turkey with as it might be stock cubes/gravy powder or something with flour
• Pigs in blankets – there’s wheat in lots of the cheaper ones
• Some antipasti platters – sometimes comes with breadsticks, would be a cross contamination risk for the other items on the platter
• Some pre-prepared veg – e.g. Morrisons often has a may contain warning
• Sauce mixes – e.g. Colman’s cauliflower cheese
• Chutneys
• Roast Potato Seasoning – lots contain wheat eg. the one below from Sainsburys

Drinks

• Own brand Cola – lots contain barley including Tesco and Coop
• Squash – e.g. Robinsons Barley
• Cocktails – I have a full guide to gluten free alcohol here if you’d like it. It includes a set of simple rules to follow and some extra info on unexpected places to find gluten e.g. toppers on cocktails!

Snacks

• Malteser Reindeers – they look very like the Kit Kat Santa wrappers which are gluten free so it can be easy to make a mistake!
• Tree decorations – lots are may contain
• Coop Frozen Party food – most of it contains gluten now 🙁
• Celebrations
• Dinky Deckers in Heroes – the rest are fine
• Terry’s Chocolate Orange – it’s a may contain
• Some Crisps
• Sprinkles/Other Cake Decorations – some contain wheat
• Sweets – strawberry laces, liquorice
• Nuts – lots of may contains around including the ones below from M&S
• Cooking chocolate – generally find lots of supermarket own brand cooking chocolates are a may contain including the one below from Sainsburys