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Wheat in sweets
Wheat is not an obvious sweet ingredient, but flour, wafer and malt appear in several. Here is where wheat hides, why glucose syrup made from wheat is treated differently, and what gluten free really means.
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Wheat is not what most people picture in a bag of sweets, yet it appears in several of them. Cereals containing gluten, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats, are one of the 14 allergens, so wherever they appear in a packed sweet, they must be emphasised in the ingredients list.
Where wheat turns up
- Liquorice. The essential ingredients of black liquorice are liquorice extract, sugar and a binder, and the base is typically starch or flour, gum arabic, gelatine or a mix of them. Where the flour is wheat flour, the sweet contains gluten: see are sweets gluten free?
- Wafer bars. Published ingredient lists for Kit Kat, a wafer bar, include wheat flour in several countries.
- Malted centres. Maltesers have a malted milk centre, and their European ingredients include barley malt extract and wheat flour.
The glucose syrup exemption
Glucose syrup is used in confectionery, and it can be made from wheat as well as from maize, potatoes and other starches. The allergen rules make a specific exception: wheat based glucose syrups, including dextrose, and wheat based maltodextrins do not count as a gluten allergen, and neither do glucose syrups made from barley. So a sweet can contain glucose syrup made from wheat without being labelled as containing gluten.
Gluten free means 20 parts per million
A gluten free claim on a UK label means the food contains no more than 20 parts per million of gluten, as Coeliac UK explains. Sweets without the claim may still contain no gluten ingredients, but only the claim tells you the 20 parts per million limit is met, and some sweets carry precautionary warnings: see what does may contain mean on sweets?
Coeliac disease and wheat allergy
Coeliac disease is caused by eating gluten, found in wheat, barley, rye and their derivatives, and a gluten free diet is an effective treatment. A wheat allergy is a different condition. Both mean checking every label, including on sweets.
In our pick and mix, liquorice sweets such as Liquorice Allsorts and soft liquorice twists are the ones to check first if you avoid wheat. Each sweet card shows its ingredients and allergens before you buy.
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Questions and answers
Do sweets contain wheat?
Some do. Black liquorice is typically made with starch or flour, wafer bars such as Kit Kat contain wheat flour, and malted milk centres can contain wheat flour and barley malt. Always check the ingredients list, where gluten containing cereals must be emphasised.
Is glucose syrup made from wheat gluten free?
Under the allergen rules, wheat based glucose syrups, including dextrose, and wheat based maltodextrins are specifically exempt, so they do not have to be declared as a gluten allergen.
What does gluten free mean on sweets?
In the UK, gluten free on a label means the food contains 20 parts per million of gluten or less. Coeliac UK explains the rules on its website.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, legislation.gov.uk
- Liquorice (confectionery), Wikipedia
- KitKat, Wikipedia
- Maltesers, Wikipedia
- Glucose syrup, Wikipedia
- Gluten free food labelling law explained, Coeliac UK
- Gluten free diet, Wikipedia
- Food labelling: ingredients list, GOV.UK
Keep reading
- Questions people askAre sweets gluten free?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.
- Diet, allergens and labelsA guide to gluten free sweetsGluten free means 20 ppm of gluten or less. Watch for wheat flour in liquorice and wafers and barley malt in malted centres; wheat glucose syrup is exempt.
- Diet, allergens and labelsThe 14 allergens explained for sweetsUK law names 14 allergens that must be declared. In sweets you may meet milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soya, gluten, sesame and sulphites. How labelling works.
- Questions people askAre wine gums gluten free?Wine gums contain no wheat flour, but one brand's product record lists gluten as a possible trace, so they cannot be called gluten free. What that means.
- Diet, allergens and labelsHow to read a sweet labelWhat each part of a sweet label means: ingredients by weight, allergens in bold, E numbers, the nutrition table, legal warnings and when there is no date.
- Diet, allergens and labelsGelatine in sweets explainedGelatine gives gummies and marshmallows their texture, and it melts below body temperature, which shapes how they feel in the mouth. Who avoids it.