Malt extract and malt flavourings are commonly made from barley, although they can be produced from other grains. You might find barley malt extract as an additional ingredient in breakfast cereals and chocolates.  

Foods that contain small amounts of barley malt extract can be eaten by people with coeliac disease if they contain 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten or less. These foods will still have barley highlighted in the ingredients list due to labelling laws, and you won’t be able to tell how much has been used from the list alone, unless the product is labelled gluten free.

Previously, we would only list products which contained barley malt extract if we’d received confirmation that the product contained 20 ppm or less of gluten. Under our new policy, we are asking food manufacturers who produce products made with ingredients from gluten containing grains, such as barley malt extract, to not only confirm to us that their products have been tested and shown to have no more than 20 ppm gluten, but also to label them gluten free. In the absence of a gluten free label they will no longer be included in our Food Information listings. We are continuing to engage with the manufacturers to achieve a commitment to enable these products to be labelled gluten free in the future and we will also be asking you for your views and experiences in a survey.

In the UK most soy sauces that are labelled gluten free are NOT made from gluten containing grains. These soy sauces are known as Tamari as they are not made with wheat.

By law, schools must make provisions for children with special dietary needs. Visit our gluten free school meals page to find out more.

Barley malt vinegar is made from barley, (a gluten containing cereal) and is found in pickles, chutneys and some sauces. If it is used in a food product the manufacturer must list and emphasise the word ‘barley’ in the ingredients list in line with European allergen labelling law.

Barley malt vinegar is made using a process called fermentation, which breaks the gluten protein in barley into smaller fragments. Foods that contain small amounts of barley malt vinegar can be eaten by people with coeliac disease if they contain 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten or less. In addition, barley malt vinegar is usually only eaten in small amounts, for example, drained pickled vegetables, sauces with a meal or on chips.

We are asking food manufacturers who produce products made with ingredients from gluten containing grains, such as barley malt vinegar, to not only confirm to us that their products have been tested and shown to have no more than 20 ppm gluten, but also to label them gluten free. In the absence of a gluten free label they will no longer be included in our Food Information listings.

We are continuing to engage with the manufacturers to achieve a commitment to enable these products to be labelled gluten free in the future and we will also be asking you for your views and experiences in a survey.

There are alternative sources of vinegar that are not made from barley such as balsamic, cider, sherry, spirit, white wine and red wine vinegar.

The FSC is supportive of our pragmatic approach to inform and enable the community to make a choice that is right for them. Our HAC is also supportive of our current approach. Our HAC agrees and acknowledges that further research in this area is needed. Based on their clinical experience, the gluten free fermented and hydrolysed products seem to be suitable for the majority of people with coeliac disease with the exception of those who may require a super sensitive diet (see our FAQ on a super sensitive) under the supervision of their healthcare team. It is therefore felt that the proposed approach will provide the community with the information needed to make the choice that is right for them as to whether or not to include these products in their diet, while further research is sought to provide clarity and there has been an opportunity to ask the gluten free community for their views.

We want researchers, brewers, testing companies and laboratories performing gluten analysis to work with us to end this uncertainty for the gluten free consumer. We have been monitoring this emerging situation and we have a programme of work to address this issue. We will also be asking you for your views and preferences in a survey.

We are asking producers to provide additional information to help you make an informed choice. On beers advertised with Coeliac UK or listed in our Food and Drink Information you will see one of the following statements:

1.    Our gluten free beers are made from gluten containing grains where the gluten has been removed.

OR

2.    Our gluten free beers are made from ingredients that do not contain gluten.

Play DohTM is not always gluten free. However, it is easy to make play dough without using gluten. A gluten free recipe is available here.

If you already have the app downloaded, then it will be on your device’s home screen, but if you have not yet downloaded the app or have recently joined Coeliac UK as a member, the new app can be found on both the Apple Store and Google Play store.

Simply visit the relevant app store on your phone and search for ‘Coeliac UK’ or ‘Live Well Gluten Free’.  

The LC-MS/MS method is extremely sensitive and can pick up on small fragments of gluten which may not be within the scope of the R5 competitive ELISA method or any ELISA method. However, what this means in real life terms of the amount of gluten which could be recognised by the body isn’t known. There is no verified method using LC-MS/MS to measure the quantity of gluten. This is important because the legal definition of gluten free is 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten or less.

We do not know if the gluten fragments seen by the LC-MS/MS will cause an immune reaction. Some of the fragments contain sequences that, if not broken down by gut digestion, could be recognised by immune cells. However, it is likely that many of these fragments will be digested and further broken down in the gut and not be capable of triggering a reaction, but we need further research to answer these questions.

Practical experience seen in the clinics of our Health Advisory Council and Health Advisory Network, where patients are consuming gluten free fermented, hydrolysed products, has shown that most people with coeliac disease can tolerate these products.