Which grains are gluten-free? The full list for coeliac disease
With coeliac (celiac) disease you avoid three cereals and everything made from them: wheat, barley and rye. Oats sit in between. Almost everything else in the grain aisle is naturally gluten-free. Here’s the whole list, with a page for each where there’s more to know.
Contain gluten
| Grain | Also sold as |
|---|---|
| Wheat | durum, semolina, farina, bulgur, couscous, freekeh, seitan, wheat bran and germ |
| Wheat relatives | spelt, einkorn, emmer, farro, kamut (khorasan) |
| Barley | malt, malt extract, barley malt vinegar, pearl barley, most beer |
| Rye | rye bread, pumpernickel, rye flour |
| Triticale | a cross of wheat and rye |
One exception you’ll meet on labels: wheat starch processed to 20 mg/kg or less can carry a gluten-free claim in the EU and UK. The label tells you. More on wheat starch.
Oats: labelled gluten-free only
Oats don’t contain wheat, barley or rye gluten, but ordinary oats are usually cross-contaminated with them, so choose oats labelled gluten-free. A small minority of people with coeliac disease also react to the oat protein avenin. Are oats gluten-free? The full answer.
Naturally gluten-free grains and seeds
- Rice, including brown, wild and sticky (glutinous) rice
- Corn (maize): polenta, cornmeal, masa
- Quinoa
- Buckwheat, despite the name
- Millet, sorghum, teff, amaranth, fonio
Naturally gluten-free starches and flours
- Potato starch and flour
- Cassava and tapioca
- Arrowroot, corn starch
- Chickpea and other pulse flours, chestnut flour, nut flours
The catch with all of them
A grain that’s gluten-free in the field can pick up gluten on the way to you: shared fields, mills and packing lines. For whole, single-ingredient grains that’s usually a small risk; for flours and flakes, a pack labelled gluten-free (20 mg/kg or less) takes the guesswork out. And in the kitchen, the questions are always the same: shared pans, pasta water, the fryer and the sauce.
Keep reading
- The Hidden-Gluten Watchlist: the 15 forbidden names and the ones to check
- The Flour Library: every gluten-free flour, how it bakes
- Naturally gluten-free vs labelled gluten-free
- Ingredient Decoder: hidden gluten words
- Is soy sauce gluten-free? · Is vinegar gluten-free?
Sources: Coeliac UK (grains and the gluten-free diet), Codex Alimentarius (gluten-free = 20 mg/kg or less), EU Regulation 828/2014. We inform, we don’t diagnose: for medical questions, your doctor or dietitian has the last word.
Reviewed against the HTGF methodology: every claim sourced, every listing tiered and dated. This article is practical guidance, not medical advice.
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