Wheat allergy

A wheat allergy is a reaction of the immune system to proteins in wheat. It can involve gluten but also other wheat proteins. It is different from celiac disease, an autoimmune condition caused by gluten, and from gluten sensitivity. Some people with a wheat allergy can eat rye, barley or oats and some cannot. Only a doctor can diagnose a wheat allergy and tell you what to avoid.

Substitutes

• Flour: rice flour, corn flour, buckwheat flour, oat flour if oats are safe for you, or a flour blend that contains no wheat starch.
• Thickening: cornstarch or potato starch (potatismjöl in Swedish recipes) instead of a flour roux.
• Pasta and noodles: rice noodles, corn pasta, or noodles made from 100 percent buckwheat.
• Breadcrumbs: crushed rice crackers or cornflakes, or polenta.
• Soy sauce: tamari made without wheat.

Buckwheat is not related to wheat despite its name.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the other names for wheat: spelt, khorasan, durum, semolina, farro, einkorn, emmer, bulgur, couscous, freekeh, triticale and seitan.
• Missing wheat in almost every flour sold for baking, including all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK), bread flour, cake flour and self-rising flour, and in panko and most breadcrumbs.
• Using regular soy sauce, which is usually brewed with wheat.
• Trusting a gluten-free label alone. In the EU and the UK, gluten-free food can contain wheat starch that has had the gluten removed. The wheat is still named in the ingredients list.

In recipes

Wheat is labeled in both the EU and the US, in different ways:

• In the US, wheat is one of the nine major allergens and must be named in the ingredients or a "Contains" statement. Rye and barley are not major allergens there.
• In the EU and the UK, wheat falls under cereals containing gluten, and the label must name wheat and emphasize it.

If you have a wheat allergy, read labels every time you buy, including on gluten-free products, and talk to your doctor or a dietitian about which grains are safe for you.