Key takeaways:
Just because something is wheat free doesn’t mean it’s gluten free, since gluten can also come from barley and rye.
It’s possible to be intolerant or allergic to wheat but not to gluten.
Whether you’re avoiding wheat or gluten, it’s important to become familiar with off-limit foods and to read ingredients lists.
Over the past several years, gluten has remained a hot-button issue. With that comes a lot of questions about things like what gluten free actually means and whether being wheat free and gluten free are the same thing.
Here's how to tell the difference between the two and how to tell if a product is gluten free.
Wheat is one of the major sources of gluten, but being wheat free is not the same thing as being gluten free. This is because gluten is also found in grains like rye and barley. So a food can be wheat free but still contain gluten from other sources.
Gluten is a type of protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. It gives these grains both structure and flexibility and holds them together.
Common food sources of gluten include:
Most bread products, including sliced bread, bagels, English muffins, pastries, and more
Traditional pastas
Traditional doughs and crusts
Most crackers
Flour tortillas
Gluten can also be found in less obvious food sources, such as couscous and some lunch meats. This is why following a gluten-free diet requires careful attention to not only common food sources but also items in which the ingredient could be “hidden.”
The term “gluten free” refers to food that is free of gluten and ingredients that contain gluten. Some foods are naturally gluten free, such as:
Fruits and vegetables
Dairy products
Eggs
Meat, fish, and poultry
Nuts and seeds
Beans and lentils
Oils
Most beverages
Certain grains like rice and oats that are prepared in a gluten-free factory
Other foods typically contain gluten, but can be made gluten free by food manufacturers. Examples include:
Pasta, tortillas, and other bread products made from flours that don’t contain gluten, such as those made from rice, potato, and corn
Cookies, pastries, and other grain-based desserts made from gluten-free flours, such as almond and coconut flour
Soups and sauces made without wheat
Beer made from grains that don’t contain gluten
The safest and best way to know if a packaged product is gluten free is by looking for the “certified gluten-free” label. This label is regulated by the FDA and means that the food is either completely gluten free or contains less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.
It’s possible that some foods could still be contaminated by gluten — even if on their own they are gluten free. While some packages say “may contain wheat” or include a disclaimer that the food has been made at a facility that processes wheat, these allergen statements are not mandatory. So it’s best to look for the certified gluten-free label.
Some people who have certain conditions need to follow a gluten-free diet in order to manage their health. Such conditions include:
Non-celiac gluten intolerance
People with these conditions do not tolerate gluten well, so following a gluten-free diet is both necessary and beneficial to them. For everyone else, there is no proven medical reason to follow a gluten-free diet.
Gluten-free foods are naturally wheat free (since wheat contains gluten). But the reverse is not necessarily true. A food that is wheat free simply means that it doesn’t contain any wheat, or any food related to wheat, such as:
Bulgur
Couscous
Durum
Farro
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Vital wheat gluten
Wheat protein isolate
Spelt
Seitan
Semolina
Wheat berries
Soy sauce
A food can be wheat free but still contain other ingredients with gluten, like barley and rye.
Some people can tolerate gluten but not wheat due to a wheat allergy. Wheat allergies can lead to a life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Wheat allergies tend to affect young children and people who work with wheat flour, like bakers.
If you need to avoid wheat, it is always a good idea to double-check the ingredient list on nutrition labels to make sure a product doesn’t contain it or hasn’t been contaminated by it.
Symptoms are the best way to identify both gluten and wheat intolerances. These intolerances generally cause reactions that are less severe than with food allergies and commonly include:
Irregular bowel movements or diarrhea
Vomiting
Rashes
Headaches
Fatigue
If you’re having these symptoms, it can be helpful to keep a food journal to help determine if what you’re eating is the cause.
Allergies, on the other hand, can be diagnosed by a healthcare provider. To diagnose a wheat allergy, your provider will likely perform a skin prick test or a blood test. And to diagnose celiac disease — an autoimmune condition in which eating gluten leads to intestinal damage — your healthcare provider will review your symptoms and may perform a blood test.
Wheat free and gluten free are not the same thing. It is possible for a food to be wheat free and still contain gluten from other food sources. On the other hand, it is not possible for something to be gluten free and contain wheat, since wheat is one of the major sources of gluten.
So, while a gluten-free diet guarantees you won’t be exposed to wheat, it may exclude more foods than necessary. Some people may need to avoid wheat but not all sources of gluten, while others may need to avoid gluten altogether. In either case, it is extremely important to read ingredient lists or check for allergen statements to make sure foods are safe for you to eat.
Celiac Disease Foundation. (n.d.). Gluten-free foods.
Celiac Disease Foundation. (n.d.). What is gluten?.
Food Allergy Research and Education. (n.d.). Wheat allergy.
Patel, N., et al. (2023). Wheat allergy. StatPearls.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2022). Questions and answers on the gluten-free food labeling final rule.