Foods To Avoid

Keep in mind that none of the lists included on these pages promises to be either complete or rest on any absolute authority. These are just designed as a guide, and all users of this information remain responsible for their own choices. The first thing you need to understand when reading ingredients labels is that there are several classes of items to be wary of.

These are certainly wheat, rye and barley. Oats is also generally avoided, and for the purposes of the following lists will be considered to be firmly on the toxic list. For more information about oats, see the "Controversial Ingredients" section.

These are items which, when you're shopping in a grocery store, will always be crossed off of your list. These include things like "noodles" which, when listed as an ingredient in most foods, will almost always contain wheat. There are exceptions, of course, like rice noodles in Oriental foods, or even gluten-free noodles found in speciality stores. But in general, you will know to avoid these foods. If these are marked "gluten-free" then they should be okay. Otherwise, you can skip these. The reasons to avoid these are stated in parenthesis after each, if the reason isn't obvious.