A guide to gluten free sweets

Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and oats, and for people with coeliac disease, a gluten free diet is an effective treatment. Sugar itself contains no gluten, but gluten can come into sweets through flour, wafer or malt, so every label is worth reading.

What the labels mean

• Gluten free means the food contains 20 parts per million of gluten or less, a level considered safe for people with coeliac disease.
• Very low gluten applies to specialist products containing a special wheat starch, with gluten between 21 and 100 parts per million, and may not suit people who are more sensitive.
• The Crossed Grain symbol is Coeliac UK's mark for gluten free products, a quick way to spot them.
• May contain statements, such as may contain traces of gluten or made in a factory also handling wheat, signal a manufacturing risk: see what does may contain mean on sweets?

On packed sweets, cereals containing gluten are one of the 14 allergens and must be emphasised in the ingredients list. Barley malt extract must be labelled as containing barley by law, whatever the amount.

Sweets to check

• Liquorice. The base of black liquorice is typically starch or flour, and wheat flour contains gluten: see wheat in sweets
• Wafer bars. Published ingredient lists for Kit Kat include wheat flour.
• Malted centres. Maltesers list barley malt extract and wheat flour in their European recipe.
• Anything with biscuit or crispy cereal. Check the label for wheat, barley, rye or oats.

Ingredients that sound worrying but are exempt

Glucose syrup can be made from wheat, but wheat based glucose syrups, including dextrose, and wheat based maltodextrins are exempt from the gluten allergen rules, as are glucose syrups made from barley. They are not declared as gluten: see are sweets gluten free?

Oats

Oats are one of the cereals covered by the allergen rules. Uncontaminated oat products that meet the 20 parts per million standard can be labelled gluten free.

Loose sweets

Loose pick and mix can carry a risk of cross contamination from shared scoops and displays, so check each sweet's allergen information and ask the seller: see pick and mix and allergies In our pick and mix, the liquorice sweets are the ones to check first if you avoid gluten, and every sweet card shows its allergens before you buy.

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