Naturally gluten free but do they contain ‘traces of gluten’?
Are nuts safe for celiacs? Some of you may be reading this and thinking, seriously? Is this gluten free traveller chick really trying to tell me that I can’t eat nuts now? She’s already made me uncertain about my morning coffee and I KNOW that nuts are gluten free. In theory, YES. Nuts themselves are of course naturally gluten free but in my experience it’s extremely difficult to find any which are free from the threat of cross contamination. And if you’re celiac then this is a real concern.
Here’s what led me to write this post..
I was at my local farmers market yesterday buying tasty fruit and veggies for the week and I noticed there were various nuts for sale. I asked the guy selling almonds whether they were safe for celiacs. He told me that they are manufactured on machinery with a whole bunch of stuff and so he couldn’t confirm that they are safe. I told him that I am celiac and therefore can’t risk eating anything which may have been cross contaminated by gluten. His response was “I wouldn’t recommend that you eat any almonds at all” I’m very happy that these lovely guys were honest with me but it leaves me with a problem. Where is a celiac to find cross contamination free, gluten free nuts?
Today I called Target to find out about the gluten free status of their Archer Farms raw mixed nuts. The lovely woman on the phone told me that whilst this product contains no gluten ingredients it was made on shared equipment with gluten containing products. She also said that the company does have procedures in place to try to prevent cross contamination but she couldn’t tell me what those procedures are. ‘Procedures in place to try to prevent cross contamination‘? Is this really the best we can hope for?
It appears that very rarely are nuts safe from possible cross contamination. I know that in Whole Foods for example all of the nuts I looked at carry a label which says ‘may contain wheat.’ or ‘made on shared equipment with wheat.’ Trader Joes have their ‘No Gluten ingredients’ symbol but again this doesn’t mean the product is free from cross contamination. And then what about the places that aren’t openly warning us about this risk? The farmers market I went to yesterday is a prime example. Many of the products there carry no labelling but they may still have been produced in a way that makes them unsafe for us celiacs. I’m sure many celiacs have bought these nuts without even considering possible cross contamination. What are we to do in situations like this? The same could be said for many other products. Dried fruit? Dried beans and lentils? And the list goes on..
I’ve recently discovered that Blue Diamond almonds are apparently produced on gluten free lines to prevent cross contamination. This sounds a lot better. But what if I want peanuts? walnuts? cashews? If you can buy nuts which are still in their shell and crack them yourself then they won’t be contaminated by evil gluten.
Where you do find your nuts? Perhaps you don’t eat nuts or perhaps you’re buying them without knowing for sure? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…
Sasha
May 17th, 2012Great post Laura. As you know I have been wondering about nuts too. I remember going to the celiac shop in Buenos Aires and they sold nuts. I was surprised and said, why would you need to sell nuts at a celiac shop? Aren’t they always gluten-free? And the girls working there said, no, they’re not. They might have been talking about roasting but it’s true, we don’t know about the cross-contamination issues. I am glad you found one brand with gluten-free awareness about their production. Any others? If others have ideas please chime in.
Also, what about seeds? For example, I need to buy pumpkin seeds, as per a naturopath recommendation and can’t find any yet which seem free of cross-contamination. I found some flax seeds from Bob’s Red Mills which I think I can trust.
Alysa (InspiredRD)
May 17th, 2012Nuts.com is supposed to have gluten-free nuts, I have spoken with them over email about it but haven’t ordered yet.
Tosca
May 17th, 2012Thanks for this post! When I was first diagnosed with celiac last year, I relied heavily on nuts, but then started realizing they were sometimes making me sick! Now I only eat ones that say gluten-free on the label, which of course limits my choices greatly. It also baffles my friends and family who thought nuts were a good option for party snacks for me and now can’t figure out why nuts are now something I watch out for. *sigh*
I can’t remember the brand I sometimes buy, but it says that the almonds are sprouted, dehydrated and gluten-free. Of course they are somewhere near $9 a bag, which is somewhat ridiculous, but I guess I’m willing to pay the price for peace of mind (and my health).
Petra
May 19th, 2012I recently came across this as a restaurant in town does not include dishes with nuts on the gluten free menu due to cross contanimation. Something to keep in mind!
Sasha
May 19th, 2012What does this say about Lara bars (which are made of nuts)? They say they are gf but they are not certified.
I found some sprouted pumpkin seeds which are certified GF. Expensive but certified.
I was thinking ordering online might be the way to go too if there are places that sell certified GF nuts and seeds.
Laura
May 19th, 2012Lara bars are safe for us. They are one of very few bars in this country that I trust
Whilst they are not GF Certified (and they should be to assure us!) they have controls in place to keep us safe. 
This is from their website: “LÄRABAR and JŎCALAT are Gluten Free. They have no gluten-containing ingredients, and we have manufacturing controls in place to ensure that there are no cross-contact concerns. We also periodically verify our practices using Gliadin gluten testing.”
Laura
May 19th, 2012Interesting, Petra. What a great point you make…do we double check the source of our nuts that are served to us as part of a ‘gluten free’ meal? It’s nice to hear of a restaurant really thinking about what they serve and not being comfortable labelling it as gluten free unless they are certain. I really doubt any restaurant can know for sure that the nuts they are using in their meals are safe.
I think this comes down to how gluten free aware are the restaurants we are eating at because clearly gluten free doesn’t always mean gluten free when you’re celiac.. http://glutenfreetraveller.com/topics-2/lifestyle/how-gluten-free-aware-are-gluten-free-restaurants/
Michelle @ Spinning Spoons
May 20th, 2012I’ve been wondering about this as well. There must be at least a commercial source, because the almond flour I buy is supposed to be gluten free. I’ve been craving macadamia nuts and can’t seem to find a good gluten free source… I’ve been worrying a lot because while products have been using the gluten free label, when nuts are involved I’m having a hard time believing they went all the way back to their producer’s production practices to check that there was no cross contamination.
Laura
May 21st, 2012True, Michelle I hadn’t even thought about the nutty flours. I wonder where they get their nuts from? Bob’s Red Mill for example have a gluten free almond flour. Their gluten free products are made in a completely gluten free factory so I guess whatever source they get their almonds from must be safe and cross contamination free? Interesting..
Karen
Jun 10th, 2012Hey, just found your website through Gluten Free Travel with Kids. Nuts are so tricky. I’m not sure what country you are in, but Trader Joe’s has very good labeling regarding whether the equipments was gluten free or not. We are currently living in Sweden (GF family of 5) where the labeling is not as specific, and we just knocked a brand of nuts off our safe list, because we realized it was making us all sick.
Flour wise stateside, we have had no problem with Honeyville Almond Flour. There is also an Almond flour in the UK that I found, but haven’t tried yet that I can get the name of if anyone is interested. We currently are ‘importing’ (via friends and visitors) the Honeyville from the states
If you are desperate, I have had success making nut flours with a dedicated coffee grinder…it takes time, but it does work! Cheers!
Michelle P.
Jul 15th, 2012This is exactly why I buy all of my nuts and most of my gf flours through nuts.com They prominently label which products of theirs are certified gluten-free.
Also, their nuts are way fresher and tastier than nuts I’ve bought anywhere else!
JuliaZ
Jul 31st, 2012And then you have those of us who are celiac who are also deadly allergic to nuts and who find g-f products quite difficult in general because many companies seem to think nothing of contaminating their carefully g-f products with nuts!! I really wish someone would make a line completely free of the big-8 that was also affordable.
Priya
Aug 27th, 2012I buy my nuts at my local farmer’s market.
But, it isn’t that simple.
I spoke with every nut vendor at the farmer’s market to figure out which ones I could trust, and which ones I couldn’t. It turns out the most popular vendor had never even heard of gluten free, while many of the smaller vendors were very knowledgeable about food handling practices and how their nuts were processed. I purchase my nuts (and raisins) from two of these vendors, and have had no worries or “events”.
My husband has now been gluten free for the last three years, and it has changed our palates. In the past I would never think of eating a nut unless it was roasted or flavored. Now we really like to eat plain nuts. As we remove so much of the processed foods out of our diets we don’t have a taste for salts and flavors, which makes purchasing nuts that much easier…
Pablo
Nov 29th, 2012I usually wash my beans and rice before cooking them, and I get peanuts only on their own shell and peal them myself, same with almonds and nuts. never processed unless GF tested.
You should review your garrapiñadas post, since for me they have never been gluten free because of what you say in this post. cheers from buenos aires.
Amy
Dec 18th, 2012I buy nuts in the shell and whip out the good old nutcracker LOL
Laura
Dec 20th, 2012That’s what I’ve been doing recently with Walnuts, Amy! Although right now I don’t have a nutcracker so I’m putting them in a bag and smacking them with the bottom of a knife. It seems to work!
Lori
Feb 4th, 2013I am extremely sensitive Laura and just discovered my love for Almonds. Blue Diamond has not bothered me at all. I would know right away!
Laura
Feb 4th, 2013Hi Lori! I eat Blue Diamond almonds every day now and they are delicious! I’m glad you’ve discovered a love for them too.
Other than walnuts in the shell, when I can find them, Blue Diamond almonds are pretty much the only nuts I eat. I devour peanut butter every day of course as though it’s going out of fashion! 
Heidi
Mar 10th, 2013My family has been eating from Nuts.com for 2 years. They have fantastic service, fast delivery, and the best-tasting nuts we’ve eaten. So, we’re really happy with them except for the cost of shipping that adds to our food bill. I’m wondering if I can order direct from suppliers.
Ashley Rose
May 7th, 2013SO maybe it’s only me who has had this issue but for me I have to stay away from the whole food bins/dispensers even in the natural section, i have gotten walnuts from these two times and both times felt like I had been glutened. I’m curious as to why but moreso am concerned with just staying away from these altogether. Unfortunate since it is always a bit cheaper to get flax seeds, nuts, from these but it just seems riskyyy