Tips for Avoiding Gluten in Your Spice Cabinet
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on this gluten free journey for 10 years now. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, I started trying to figure out what was causing my symptoms in 2014 and 2015. I began reading and researching, and it became clear to me through that reading and my own food diary, that gluten was at least one of my problems. It took a while to figure out all of the places that gluten hides. I would get so frustrated thinking that I had eliminated all of the sources of gluten and controlled all the variables, just to get sick anyway.
I took another deep dive into every single thing I was consuming, and it finally hit me…The Spice Cabinet!! I started looking at the fine print on my spices and reading company websites, then I discovered that almost every one of the spices/herbs in my spice cabinet contained gluten. That really shocked me. On a positive note, some of my close friends and family were gifted some great herbs and spices for their spice cabinet. On the other side, I had to begin researching and finding (and purchasing) all new herbs and spices. As someone who cooks pretty much every meal at home, that was challenging and inconvenient. Luckily, now I know the brands that are GF and the retailers that carry those brands, and I’ve also found some that are not as expensive. At first, I was spending a good bit more money on GF brands. As a very committed comparison shopper I have found ways to save money on herbs and spices.
I find it best to buy spices and herbs with gluten free certifications. Unfortunately, many seasoning mixes use wheat starch as an anti-caking agent. This includes packaged spice mixes like taco seasoning, Cajun seasoning, blackened seasoning, steak seasoning, Za’atar, Garam Masala, and the list goes on and on.
Bragg makes a blend that they call Sprinkle Seasoning: 24 Herbs & Spices which I use all the time. I have found it at most retailers. Morton & Bassett also has a good selection of GF herbs and spices in glass containers. Spicely Organic is another brand which clearly marks GF and I love that they package in glass containers. Badia has many spices and herbs with a GF designation, and Fiesta herbs and spices are mostly marked as Gluten Free and are one of the more affordable brands I’ve encountered on this journey. Some retailers are good about marking products as gluten free on their store shelves, but I personally check the packaging to be sure. Unfortunately, brands will also change an ingredient or packaging that will make their product contain gluten or at least have cross contamination issues. I’ve been successful finding spices in bulk packaging that are clearly marked GF through online retailers. This has really helped me to save money. The good news is that even since I started this journey in 2014, companies and manufacturers have been doing a much better job about labeling their products. I’ve heard many horror stories from people who started this journey before I did, and I consider myself lucky comparatively. Thank goodness it seems to be getting easier.
