Other and gluten: 82 foods rated

Breadcrumbs are bread, dried and ground, so they carry whatever the bread carried. They are the classic hidden source - a coating, a binder in meatballs, a topping on a gratin.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, the fourteen allergens requiring declaration

A croissant is wheat flour laminated with butter, and the lamination depends on gluten - it is the protein network that holds the layers apart as they rise. There is no version of the technique without it.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, the fourteen allergens requiring declaration

Pasta is durum wheat and water, and durum is chosen precisely for its gluten - it is what stops the strands dissolving in the pot. Gluten-free pasta exists and is made from something else entirely.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, the fourteen allergens requiring declaration

Sourdough fermentation does NOT make bread gluten-free. It degrades some gluten peptides, but nowhere near enough for coeliac disease: a wheat or rye sourdough remains a gluten-containing food.

Standard soy sauce is brewed with wheat and contains gluten. Choose tamari labelled gluten-free as a safe alternative.

Beef stock is the one where the browning matters: a commercial brown stock gets its colour from caramel or from a roux, and a roux is wheat flour and fat, which is where the gluten comes in. The darker the stock and the thicker it pours, the more likely flour is in it.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

A stock cube has to hold together as a pressed block, and flour is one of the cheapest ways to do that - alongside barley malt extract for flavour. Gluten-free cubes exist and are labelled; the ordinary ones frequently are not clear.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Chicken stock has flavour of its own, so it needs less help - but the commercial versions still thicken and body it out, and wheat flour is the usual way. Bones, water and vegetables is a recipe with nothing in it to check.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Chocolate chips carry no gluten of their own and are made to survive an oven, and the same industrial lines that coat and shape them handle biscuit and wafer products - which makes shared-line contamination the main route here rather than any ingredient. Certified versions exist and say so.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Cornflakes are corn-based but usually contain barley malt extract, which adds gluten. Look for a certified gluten-free version.

Dairy-free chocolate replaces the milk solids with rice, oat or almond powder - and oat is the one that matters here, because oats are cross-contaminated with wheat unless certified. A vegan bar can therefore be less gluten-safe than the milk chocolate it replaces.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Dark chocolate's gluten route is barley malt extract, used as a flavour enhancer, and biscuit or wafer inclusions. Plain dark chocolate is cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter, with none - so this depends on the bar rather than on the type.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Fermented tofu is cured in a brine that often contains rice wine or soy sauce, and most soy sauce is brewed with wheat. The tofu itself has never been the question. What a label may promise is set by regulation and not by a recipe: 828/2014 allows "gluten-free" at or below 20 mg/kg, sets the conditions oats must meet, and admits wheat-derived ingredients in a gluten-free food provided the finished product stays under that ceiling. It measures nothing — it says what a food must meet to carry the claim, which is exactly what a food name cannot tell you.

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, the conditions for a gluten-free claim

Fish sauce is anchovy and salt in its traditional form, with no route for gluten at all - and the cheaper brands add wheat-based hydrolysed protein to bulk out the flavour. A two-ingredient label is the one to look for; it exists and costs more.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Potatoes contain no gluten. Chips are a may-contain because of what happens around them: a shared fryer with breaded products, or a flour coating added for crispness. Frozen chips often carry both. What a label may promise is set by regulation and not by a recipe: 828/2014 allows "gluten-free" at or below 20 mg/kg, sets the conditions oats must meet, and admits wheat-derived ingredients in a gluten-free food provided the finished product stays under that ceiling. It measures nothing — it says what a food must meet to carry the claim, which is exactly what a food name cannot tell you.

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, the conditions for a gluten-free claim
• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, the fourteen allergens requiring declaration

Granola is oats, and oats are counted as a gluten cereal by the law even though the protein they carry is avenin rather than wheat gluten - both regulations name oats explicitly. On top of that they are almost always grown, harvested and milled alongside wheat, which is why gluten-free oats are a separate and more expensive product. What a label may promise is set by regulation and not by a recipe: 828/2014 allows "gluten-free" at or below 20 mg/kg, sets the conditions oats must meet, and admits wheat-derived ingredients in a gluten-free food provided the finished product stays under that ceiling. It measures nothing — it says what a food must meet to carry the claim, which is exactly what a food name cannot tell you.

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, the conditions for a gluten-free claim
• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, the substances requiring declaration and their named exemptions
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, Article 2 and the Annex — the definition of gluten and the two thresholds

Hazelnut spread is hazelnuts, sugar, oil and milk powder - no gluten in the recipe. What puts it here is the factory: the same plants make filled wafers and biscuit spreads, and the jars carry a 'may contain' line for that reason rather than for anything in the paste.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Ketchup is tomato, sugar, vinegar and spice, and the vinegar is the thing to check: malt vinegar is made from barley, and it is used in some British and northern European recipes where spirit vinegar would be used elsewhere. The major brands use spirit vinegar.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Milk chocolate carries the same malt-extract gluten risk as dark and one more reason to check: malt is used far more often in milk chocolate, where it rounds the flavour, and 'malted milk' is a whole product category built on it.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Miso is where the gluten is an INGREDIENT rather than a contaminant: mugi miso is fermented on barley, and it is one of the three common types. Rice miso and soy-only miso carry none. The colour is no guide - only the grain named on the label is.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Natto is fermented soybeans and nothing else - the beans are gluten-free. The sachet of tare sauce sold in the same pack is usually wheat-based soy sauce, and that is what changes the answer. What a label may promise is set by regulation and not by a recipe: 828/2014 allows "gluten-free" at or below 20 mg/kg, sets the conditions oats must meet, and admits wheat-derived ingredients in a gluten-free food provided the finished product stays under that ceiling. It measures nothing — it says what a food must meet to carry the claim, which is exactly what a food name cannot tell you.

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, the conditions for a gluten-free claim

Oat cream is oat milk with added fat, so it inherits the oat question exactly - and it is sold as a dairy-free cooking cream, which means it lands in kitchens that are avoiding one thing and may not be checking for another. Certification answers contamination and not everything else: both associations say uncontaminated oats suit MOST coeliacs rather than all, because a minority react to the avenin itself.

• AFDIAG (France) — les trois céréales interdites (blé, orge, seigle et leurs hybrides) et l'avoine non contaminée « consommable par presque tous les cœliaques »
• Coeliac UK — “Oats can be eaten by most people with coeliac disease but only if they're marked as ‘gluten free’”
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, which sets the conditions for oats in gluten-free food

Oyster sauce is thickened, and wheat flour is the cheapest thickener there is - most brands use it, and many also contain soy sauce, which is itself usually brewed on wheat. Two routes in one bottle, and gluten-free versions are a specific product rather than a default.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Pesto is basil, oil, cheese, nuts and garlic - nothing with gluten in the recipe. What puts it here is that supermarket versions bulk out the expensive parts with breadcrumb or potato flake, and the cheaper the jar the likelier that is.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Plant-based ice cream is built on an oat, rice or nut base, and the oat versions bring the oat question with them. Add the cookie pieces, brownie chunks and biscuit swirls that these products lean on for texture, and the base is often the smaller risk.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Potato flakes are dehydrated potato, which has no gluten - but instant mash mixes routinely add wheat flour or wheat starch as a thickener, and the flakes are made on lines that also handle cereal products. Plain flakes with one ingredient are the safe form.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Tempeh is soya beans bound by a mould, and the substrate is where the risk sits: some producers add barley or wheat to the beans, and some inoculate on a grain carrier. Plain soy tempeh has no gluten at all, so this is a label question rather than a food question.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Tomato sauce is tomato, and tomato has no gluten - but a jarred pasta sauce is often thickened with wheat flour or carries a 'may contain' line from a factory that also makes filled pasta. A plain passata with one ingredient does not.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Tortilla is one word for two different foods: a maize tortilla contains no gluten at all, a wheat tortilla is bread. They sit in the same aisle in similar packets, and the difference is the first word of the ingredient list.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Vegan cheese splits by base: a coconut-oil-and-starch cheese carries no gluten, while some firm and smoked versions are built on wheat protein - seitan by another name - for the texture. The two sit side by side in the same chiller.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

Vegetable stock is the one most likely to carry gluten, because it has the least flavour of its own to start with - wheat-based hydrolysed protein and barley malt extract are both used to give it depth. A home-made vegetable stock has no route at all.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)

White chocolate contains no cocoa solids at all - it is cocoa butter, milk and sugar - so its gluten risk is entirely about what was added and what else runs on the line. Biscuit and cookie versions are common enough that the plain bar is worth checking too.

• Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (cereals containing gluten must be declared)
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 (gluten-free at or below 20 mg/kg)