If you have Celiac Disease and live in Canada – Are you confident that you know how to read food labels for gluten? Are you still googling “does _____ contain gluten?” in the grocery store isles? If you are, you may be able to eat more than you think… Canadian food labelling requirements make it so easy!

This is actually kind of awkward, but until a few months ago I was reading Canadian food labels all wrong. And here’s the really sad thing, I was making it WAY harder than it actually is! 

Where I went wrong.

Here’s what happened, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2020. My family doctor referred me to a dietitian who worked in their clinic to go over how to eat gluten free. She handed me a bunch of pamphlets, and told me a list of things to watch out for. I left feeling overwhelmed, and without any label reading knowledge. So when the dust settled in my mind, I went to google. 

I read more articles and blog posts than I have on any other topic. I felt like I was finally getting good at recognizing gluten in the ingredients lists of food. If I didn’t recognize an ingredient, I googled it to find out if it was gluten free or not. After a while I really felt confident that I could determine what foods were gluten free.

Now, there is actually no problem with this method EXCEPT that google wasn’t teaching me how to read labels where I lived. Google was just giving me all the information it could find on each ingredient, and most of it was irrelevant to my situation. Here’s why. 

Canadian Food Labelling Requirements

Starting in 2012, regulations on food labelling in Canada began requiring the 10 priority allergens, GLUTEN SOURCES, and added sulphites to be identified using PLAIN LANGUAGE in the ingredients lists or in a contains statement. You read that right. In Canada, gluten cannot hide under the guise of things like “seasoning”, “natural flavour” or “yeast extract”. This regulation was in effect 8 YEARS before I was even diagnosed with celiac disease. But because I was relying on google and not learning how to properly read food labels for gluten in Canada, I was making it way too hard and was avoiding foods I really didn’t need to. Most of the blogs and information I was reading were actually only relevant to the United States. So, when I travel there, I know what to look out for! haha.  

The best part is, the food must be labelled appropriately if it will be sold in Canada, no matter where the food was manufactured or processed. So if you are grocery shopping in Canada, you can shop confidently, knowing that everything must be labelled this way. 

How to Read the Labels

Let’s get down to it. How do you actually read food labels to identify gluten in Canada?

Step 1 – Check for a Certified Gluten Free Symbol

Fastest way to see if a product is gluten free is to check the packaging for one of these symbols or one like it.

In order to be certified gluten free, a product must contain less than 20ppm of gluten. This is the safe threshold for celiac disease. So, if it has a gluten free claim or symbol you can rest assured that what you are eating is safe.

Step 2 – Check for a CONTAINS or MAY CONTAIN statement.

The next step when you are reading a food label for gluten is to check for a CONTAINS or MAY CONTAIN statement. It is the easiest way to find out quick if a food is definitely not gluten free. If Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats, or Gluten is in either statement the food is not safe for a celiac diet.

The other important bit to note is that if there is a contains statement with one allergen, then all allergens (including wheat) and gluten must be included. This only applies to Contains statements, not May Contain statements.

Now, there may be a situation where you find a product that has one of the above gluten free symbols AND says that it “May Contain Wheat”. If you’re confused, you aren’t alone. What this label is trying to say is that this product has been tested and contains less than 20ppm of gluten and is therefore safe for celiac disease. However the product would not be safe for someone with an anaphylactic wheat allergy. With this type of allergy they are unable to tolerate ANY wheat. And that is why you could find both on a product.

What about “Made in a facility that processes wheat”?

This kind of precautionary statement is voluntary and not regulated. So, it could mean all kinds of different things. It could mean that the food is not safe due to uncontrollable cross contamination. It could also be a similar situation to your kitchen, which is also most likely, a “facility that (handles) wheat”, but you would feel safe eating food that has been prepared in your kitchen. The problem with these statements is that they don’t elaborate on the label, so they can really only be understood by contacting the company. Use your own comfort level and judgement, and when in doubt, contact the company.

Step 3 – If there isn’t a Contains or May Contain Statement, Check the Ingredients

Gluten sources have to be in plain language, so as long as you know your gluten ingredients, reading labels will be easy peasy. Here’s a list! If you are new to gluten-free and have trouble remembering all of the names, I found it really helpful to keep them in a note on my phone for quick reference.

• Barley
• Bulgar
• Couscous
• Durum
• Einkorn*
• Emmer*
• Farro*
• Kamut*
• Malt**
• Malt Extract**
• Malt Flavouring**
• Malt Syrup**
• Malt Vinegar**
• Oat Bran***
• Oats***
• Rye
• Semolina
• Spelt (Dinkel)*
• Triticale
• Wheat
• Wheat Bran
• Wheat Germ
• Wheat Starch

*types of wheat

**derived from barley

***Oats must be labeled gluten free to be safe for a celiac diet.

Step 4 – Remember What Products are at Highest Risk for Cross Contamination

There are just some foods that although they may not contain any gluten ingredients, they are at such a high risk for cross contamination with gluten that it’s not safe to eat them unless they have a gluten free claim. This could be for a variety of reasons but the most likely being the growing and harvesting practices.

If you are curious as to why – Farmers rotate their crops in order to keep the soil healthy, and often, wheat, barley, or rye is in rotation with things such as oats, quinoa, sourgum, peas, lentils, etc. Harvesting equipment may be contaminated with gluten grains that then get mixed with what should be a gluten free crop. It is easier to sieve out the gluten contaminates from larger things like kidney beans, but a lot of crops are small and similar size to gluten grains. This makes it difficult to remove the gluten grains during processing.

So here’s a list of foods that you should not eat on a gluten free diet unless they have a gluten free claim.

• Non-Gluten containing grains: Oats, Quinoa, Sourgum, Buckwheat
• Pulses such as peas, lentils, and beans
• Flours, cereals, or pastas made from the above grains and pulses
• Flax Seeds
• Hemp Seeds

It may be useful to also add these a note in your phone for quick reference until you are more confident. Now, a lot of these are easy to find with a gluten free claim. It’s merely a matter of picking one product over another on a shelf. In my experience, the most difficult thing to find with a gluten free claim are lentils.

A Flow Chart Anyone?

I love flow charts, it helps me to see just how simple it really is to read food labels for gluten in Canada. Here’s one to summarize what we just went over.

I hope you leave this blog post feeling equipped with the knowledge you need to go do your grocery shopping confidently! Getting good at this one skill is something that will truly make everyday living with celiac disease just that much easier. You’ve got this!

xx