Hidden Gluten: Summer Edition of Unexpected Places to Find Gluten

This blog post is all about unexpected placed to find gluten, with a focus on seasonal foods we tend to eat more of over the summer.

Not all brands will contain gluten, but some will so double check before you eat!

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Drinks

• Own brand cokes – e.g. Coop’s contains gluten.
• Pre-mixed cans of vodka/coke – sometimes this coke contains gluten too
• Alcoholic drinks – some contain gluten or are served with a gluten garnish. My complete guide is here!
• Fruit and Barley Squash – a nice cold glass of squash is perfect on a summers day but avoid the “fruit and barley” ones!!

Mains

• Croutons on salads – if you have coeliac disease and your salad does arrive with croutons, you can’t just pick them off and eat the rest. It will have been contaminated.
• Precooked satay style chicken skewers – a picnic fave but lots of brands contain gluten
• Falafal – not all brands are gluten free!
• Sushi – great summer grab-and-go lunch option but check its safe. Regular soy sauce contains gluten.
• Chips down the seafront – they could (1) contain gluten or (2) be cooked in a fryer with things that contain gluten (cross contamination risk)
• BBQ Meats – some butchers sausages, veggie burgers and marinated meats will contain gluten.
• Cous Cous – you can get “gluten free cous cous” but its usually made of maize and is very different to normal cous cous!
• Bulgar Wheat – a popular summer salad option

Sides and Sauces

• Mustard – its not the mustard that is the problem, its just the wheat that can be added to some brands – e.g. Colemans Jar of English Mustard
• Crispy Onions – shop bought crispy onions often have a wheat coating
• Dips – e.g Ocado Taramosalata
• Crisps – some brands contain gluten, e.g. Most Sensations either contain wheat/may contain

Desserts

• Ice creams/Lollies – some of the surprising ones that I’ve found contain /may contain gluten include Rowntrees Fruit Pastille Push Up Lollies, Nobbly Bobbly and R Whites Lemonade Lolly. Full ice cream here
• Sprinkles – some sprinkles contain wheat so be careful before sprinkling on your ice cream!
• Ice Cream Sauces – e.g Lotus Biscoff Topping Sauce
• Wafers/Cones – sounds obvious but easy to get carried away when the Ice Cream man comings calling!
• Sweets e.g. strawberry laces

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Other Cross Contamination Risks

Here’s a few summery things that could present a cross contamination risk:

• Butchers – if you’re getting your BBQ meat from the butcher, ask them about cc. Lots of their sausages and marinated meats often contain gluten and can be prepared/stored together in the same fridges.
• BBQs that haven’t been cleaned down after gluten has been cooked on there. Read my Coeliac Safe BBQ guide here
• Shared food/buffets – if your family is anything like mine, we put all the BBQ food in the middle and share. This presents a cc risk if not all of the food is gf. If someone touches a gluten bun and then picks up a non-gluten burger, they might get crumbs on the burger plate and it could cause you a problem!
• Non-GF Oat milk – careful with your frozen frappes etc. Starbucks, Pret and lots of others use Oatly/another gluten containing oat milk which is a cc risk – make sure you ask them to use a clean jug and cloth and to clean the steamer/blender before they make your drink.
• Ice Cream parlours – more in my Ultimate Ice Cream Guide