Gluten Free Diet

To prevent symptoms brought on by any adverse reaction to gluten you should try to follow a gluten-free diet; this excludes all foods containing the protein gluten. This diet is used to relieve symptoms associated with gluten intolerance and/or coeliac disease.

It can sometimes be challenging removing all gluten from your diet, but after a while you become familiar with foods avoid. You may find you are tolerant of certain gluten containing foods, and so can slowly reintroduce them into your diet. Remove them if symptoms are triggered.

You should always avoid foods products containing:

• Barley
• Rye
• Wheat

Foods to avoid

You should always the following foods unless they specifically state they are ‘gluten-free’:

• Bread
• Wine and beer
• Baked goods e.g. cakes and pastries
• Cereals
• Gravies
• Pastas
• Salad dressings
• Soups
• Crisps

Cross contamination

You should be aware of cross-contamination of foods with gluten during the manufacturing process. Sometimes, the same equipment is used to process gluten-free foods as gluten containing foods. The food label may therefore say that the product ‘may contain’ gluten, but sometimes such warnings are omitted. You should ring the manufacturer if you are still unsure whether the food contains gluten or not.

Cross-contamination can occur when gluten containing food is prepared on the same work surface as gluten-free foods. You should clean such work surfaces thoroughly before preparing any foods.

Gluten-free foods

There are a number of branded products that are now advertised as ‘gluten-free’ products. As awareness of gluten intolerance increases more and more ‘gluten-free’ products should become available in supermarkets.

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