# Are sweets gluten free?

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## Summary

Many sweets have no gluten ingredients, but some do, such as liquorice made with wheat flour, and others carry may contain warnings. How to check.

## Description

Plenty of sweets contain no gluten, because they are made mostly of sugar, syrups, acids and flavourings. But gluten does turn up in sweets, sometimes where you would not expect it, and some sweets that contain no gluten ingredients still carry a warning. If you have coeliac disease or a wheat allergy, the label is your guide.
Where gluten comes from
Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in wheat, including spelt and khorasan wheat, and in rye, barley and oats. In UK food law, cereals containing gluten are one of the 14 allergens that must be emphasised in the ingredients list, for example in bold: see what does may contain mean on sweets?
Sweets that may contain gluten
Liquorice. Black liquorice is made from liquorice extract, sugar and a binder, and the binder is often starch or flour. Many liquorice sweets use wheat flour as their base, so liquorice is one of the main sweets to check: see why is black liquorice black?Wafers and biscuits. Sweets with wafer, biscuit or cereal pieces may contain wheat.Malt. Malted sweets and chocolates may contain barley malt.Jelly sweets moulded in starch. Many jelly sweets are shaped in trays of starch, usually wheat, rice or corn starch. Some jelly sweet packs carry a may contain wheat warning, so check even sweets with no wheat in their ingredients.
Ingredients that are not a worry
Some ingredients sound as though they might contain gluten but are exempt. UK food law specifically exempts glucose syrups made from wheat, including dextrose, and wheat based maltodextrins, as well as glucose syrups made from barley, from the gluten allergen labelling rules: see what is dextrose in sweets?
What the gluten free label means
Only foods with 20 parts per million of gluten or less can be labelled gluten free. That is the label to look for if you have coeliac disease. A sweet with no gluten ingredients but no gluten free claim may still carry a risk of traces.
May contain warnings
Precautionary allergen labelling, the may contain warning, tells you that traces of an allergen may have got into a product accidentally. Food businesses are not legally required to use it, so its absence is not a guarantee: see are wine gums gluten free?
Loose sweets and pick and mix
For loose food, the law is different. Businesses must give you allergen information for any loose item that contains any of the 14 allergens, either in writing or out loud, and you can ask about ingredients. Loose sweets that sit side by side and share scoops may also pick up traces from each other, so people with coeliac disease need to take particular care.
We sell liquorice allsorts and soft liquorice twists, so if you avoid gluten, check the allergen information for every sweet before you buy.

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