Why is Wheat Starch Allowed in Gluten-Free Products?

Wheat starch is showing up in a number of
gluten-free products today. Why is that?

I have an extensive low-carb diet background, which has given me a first-hand knowledge about a variety of high-gluten ingredients.

One of these ingredients is wheat starch.

Although the term starch might infer that the product contains very little protein, due to the way it is processed, that isn't true.

In fact, wheat starch is one of the low-carb ingredients I used to eat that caused my celiac symptoms to go full-blown. Before I started using wheat starch, I had no gastrointestinal symptoms at all.

When you're following a low-carb protocol, wheat starch and wheat protein are popular ingredients in low-carb baked goods due to their lack of starchy carbs. The wheat protein is often called vital wheat gluten.

Yep.

Low-carb bakers use pure gluten in their baked goods, which is why my celiac symptoms went bezerk right after that.

Gluten adds bulk to low-carb baked goods and boosts their ability to rise. In fact, many non-low-carb recipes for breads and dough of various sorts call for extra gluten to make the breads and rolls softer and fluffier.

Amazingly, wheat starch fits into this category because it's pretty high in gluten.

The more protein and less starch a product has, the lower its overall carbohydrate content. Low-carb bakers use wheat starch because it is high in gluten and lower in starch than other products, such as corn, potato, or tapioca.

Adding wheat starch to gluten-free products is a fairly new practice here in the U.S.

It just became legal when the FDA finalized their gluten-free labeling guidelines. Before that law went into effect, wheat starch was not allowed. Period. In fact, many celiac organizations openly declared that wheat starch was not safe for celiacs to eat.

Today, these same celiac organizations have made a complete U-turn. Gluten-free products can contain wheat starch, and these products are now being recommended by these organizations as being safe for celiacs.

Confused?

Me too.

Although these organizations feel justified in defending what they once opposed, the switch in support doesn't mean that wheat starch is now safe for super sensitive celiacs.

Here's the scoop:

What is Wheat Starch?

Starch is a tasteless and odorless white powder that is insoluble in water or alcohol. It doesn't dissolve into the liquid unless the liquid is heated.

In manufacturing, starch is processed to create many of the different types of sugars used in foods. When mixed with water, wheat becomes paste-like and can then be used as a gluing agent, thickener, or stabilizer.

To make gluten for seitan and other high-protein vegan products, wheat flour is kneaded into a dough and then washed with cold water.

The result is a small ball of vital wheat gluten.

Vital wheat gluten is a popular low-carb flour used in baked goods, due to its low carbohydrate content, but it's also used to boost the rise of a product that uses lower-protein wheat flour, as well.

Before going gluten free, I used vital wheat gluten in my homemade whole-wheat breads because it made the finished product softer and lighter than traditional whole-wheat bread.

During processing, a huge amount of the wheat protein passes into the water because proteins are attached to the starch molecules. The starch in the water is known as wheat starch.

Mechanically, the water can be evaporated and the resulting wheat starch dried and used in other products.

Wheat starch intended to be used in gluten-free products, must have the starch further processed to remove a lot of its gluten content. 

If wheat starch was actually gluten free, it would be worthless to manufacturers because what makes wheat starch valuable is its wheat protein content.

This is why Schar, a popular gluten-free company in Europe, uses wheat starch in their gluten-free croissants and other European gluten-free products.

Wheat starch makes the finished product softer and the texture more wheat-like because there is still a certain amount of wheat protein left in the product, even after removing most of the gluten.

The keyword here is MOST. Not all.

Supposedly, wheat starch was originally intended to be free of gluten, but it didn't turn out that way.

All wheat starch products, including those certified to be gluten free, contain various amounts of gluten in the finished product. It's just that certified gluten free forms of wheat starch contain less gluten than other types.

Why is Wheat Starch Being Used in Gluten-Free Products?

Most people on gluten-free diets are seeking ways to recreate the diet and lifestyle they used to enjoy before being diagnosed with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Manufacturers know this.

They are simply taking advantage of the way that gluten-free wheat starch improves a product's:

• flavor
• lightness
• softness
• texture

This enables them to give gluten-free customers what they want.

Wheat starch also enables gluten-free products to rise a bit higher, making them more comparable in size and softness to traditional baked goods.

When the FDA finalized their gluten-free labeling law, they looked at the practice of using gluten-free wheat starch in gluten-free products, which has been going on in Europe for a long time.

Since adding wheat starch to gluten-free products benefits the manufacturer and supposedly doesn't endanger the average celiac, the FDA included gluten-free wheat starch in its list of allowable ingredients.

Cautions for Super Sensitive Celiacs

To be used in gluten-free products, wheat starch has to have undergone a special process to remove as much of the gluten protein that is left behind from normal processing, as possible.

Allowable wheat starch is known as Codex wheat starch because it has undergone additional processing.

Of special note for super sensitives:

The FDA doesn't require wheat starch in gluten-free products to be completely gluten free because gluten is pretty difficult to get rid of.

If wheat starch or ingredients made from hydrolyzed wheat starch are used in a manufacturer's gluten-free product, the final gluten-free product has to contain less than 20 ppm of gluten.

Please note that the Codex wheat starch itself doesn't have to contain less than 20 ppm. Just the finished product that's made with it.

In addition, the product has to be labeled to clearly explain that the starch has been specially processed to allow the food to meet the FDA's requirements for gluten-free labeling.

Therefore, any product that doesn't clearly state that the wheat starch has been de-glutenized probably contains a huge amount of gluten and, therefore, isn't safe for any celiac, let alone someone who is extra sensitive to gluten.

The switch by celiac organizations is based on either scientific studies or the fact that few people have reported adverse reactions across Europe.

In this case, we're talking about official reports.

If you talk to U.S. citizens with celiac disease that have traveled in Europe and come home, or those who have gone to stay there for a year or two, many will tell you that they had to totally give up ALL gluten-free products while staying in Europe because the products made them very sick.

After watching what hubby did with his first and only box of gluten-free Cheerios, (he just threw them away and refused to buy any more), I can see why the stats on what is safe and what is not safe are completely dependent on people who felt the need to complain.

Stats are not truly reflective of how many people actually react to a product.

Since reactions to gluten within the super sensitive category are as varied as they are among average celiacs, you may or may not react to a product with wheat starch.

However, it is always a wise idea to stay aware of the possibility because wheat starch can be an extremely difficult to run down.

For example, when I first became aware of the wheat starch in gluten-free foods, I had been sick for awhile.

Luckily, I ran into a testimony of someone who had become violently ill eating gluten-free products in Europe, and things started to click for me.

Since I ate a LOT of wheat starch when restricting carbs in my diet, that testimony helped me take a closer look at the possibility that something I was eating had wheat starch in it.

Xanthan Gum Can Be Grown on Wheat Starch

Although the addition of wheat starch in gluten-free products will be easy to spot, due to labeling requirements, the new requirement doesn't include ingredients produced from gluten ingredients.

For example, if gluten is the starting product, but the finished product is under 20 ppm, a company doesn't have to list the starter product on the label, even though people allergic to that starter could react to it.

This is why you won't see wheat listed on products, such as vinegar.


The same problem goes for xanthan gum.

Xanthan gum is actually a bacteria that's fed wheat starch, corn starch, or potato starch during its growth process. Current thought is that the finished vegetable gum doesn't contain any of the protein used to feed it.

Bob's Red Mill has even testified that their personal testing showed that to be true. They also said the bacteria totally eats the wheat protein, so there are no proteins left in the finished product.

If that is true:

Then why would people who are allergic to wheat react to xanthan gum that is grown on wheat starch?

They wouldn't.

Needless to say, I switched from Bob's Red Mill xanthan gum to NOW Foods Xanthan gum and my symptoms cleared up within only a couple of days.

[NOTE: Today, Bob's Red Mill xanthan gum is no longer made from wheat starch. It's fed a "carbohydrate substrate produced from non-GMO corn."]

But the problem for super-sensitive celiacs, or those allergic to wheat, is far more complex than just switching brands.

Gluten-free labeling doesn't make manufacturers reveal what that xanthan gum was grown on, so they can just claim it is proprietary information or refuse to ask their supplier. The supplier might not be trustworthy, anyway.

When xanthan gum is listed in the product's ingredients, there is no way to know if you are going to react to that product or not. Unfortunately, xanthan gum is found in a huge variety of products, and not just gluten-free foods.

I've found it in:

• cream cheese
• cottage cheese
• dry Ranch dressing mix
• barbecue sauce
• sour cream
• yogurt
• pickle relish
• sweet chili sauce

And lots, lots more!

If you've reached the point in your gluten-free journey where you are slowly returning processed foods to your whole-foods gluten-free starter diet, you'll want to make sure you stay on top of the xanthan gum in those products.

Not all xanthan gum is made from wheat.

But plenty of it is, so if you react to wheat starch, you'll have to do some serious digging into where the xanthan gum in a product comes from or carefully watch yourself for lactose intolerance and other gluten symptoms when you return these types of foods back into your diet.