Need a Food Allergy Shopping Guide? - Wheat

Category: Just for Parents

Written by Cilie Yack

WHEAT ALLERGY

A list for the newly diagnosed

No one ever suspects they are allergic to wheat, at least not according to most studies, but it is has proven to be one of the most common food intolerances.

Less than 1/2% of the total population is allergic to wheat but more than 15% have wheat intolerance (some studies put the number even higher).

Wheat allergy sufferers have a sudden reaction to wheat.

They may cough, have an asthma attack, show breathing difficulties, develop a skin rash like hives or eczema, and possibly vomit.

Please Note:Those who have symptoms of intolerance to wheat and not a wheat allergy- It is VERY likely you have gluten intolerance. Please read the gluten intolerance section.

Wheat intolerance is commonly diagnosed in children and it is quite different than an allergic response.

Less than 6% of children suffer from a true wheat allergy. Wheat intolerance, on the other hand, usually produces symptoms that arise hours and possibly days after an exposure.

Children develop digestive problems like uncomfortable bloating, headaches, fatigue, and stomach problems. If you have symptoms of wheat intolerance it is advisable to test for gluten intolerance too.

A wheat free diet is not enough for someone with intolerance symptoms because they are probably reacting to the protein in wheat and similar proteins are found in a handful other grains as well and the affected child will continue to have symptoms with exposures to those grains.

Wheat is found in foods like:

Ale
Baked Goods
Baking Mixes
Beer
Biscuits
Bouillon Cubes
Bourbon
Breaded Foods
Bran
Bulgur
Cakes
Cereals
Chowders
Couscous
Crackers
Doughnuts
Durum
Enriched Flour
Farina
Flour
Frozen Entrees
Gin
Gravies
Hot Dogs
Ice Cream
Ice Cream Cones
Imitation Crab Meat

Kamut
Licorice
Luncheon Meats
Malted Products
Macaroni
Matzos
Mayonnaise
Pancakes
Pasta Popovers
Pretzels
Processed Meats
Puddings
Rémoulade
Salad Dressing
Sauce mixes
Semolina
Snack Foods
Soup Mixes
Spaghetti
Spice mixes
Unbleached Flour
Waffles
Wheatena
Wheat Germ
Whiskey
Zwiebacks

Wheat may be found in:

Modified Food Starch (frequently)
Modified Starch (frequently)
MSG (can be made from sugar cane, sugar beets, corn sugar, wheat starch)
Starch (frequently)
Thickeners (frequently)

Surimi (ingredient used to make imitation crab meat)

Important issues with wheat:

Wheat can be a hidden ingredient in medications so you really need to inform your doctor before taking a prescription.
Wheat is also an ingredient in play dough, and can be in glue.
Buckwheat is NOT an allergen for people allergic to wheat or for people wheat and gluten intolerant.

Ingredients that contain Wheat:

Acker meal
Atta
Bal ahar
Bran
Bread crumbs
Bulgur, Bulgar
Cake flour
Couscous
Cracked wheat
Durum
Einkorn
Emmer
Enriched, white and whole-wheat flour
Farina
Fu (dried wheat gluten)
Gluten
Graham
High-gluten flour
High-protein flour
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Kamut
Laubina
Leche alim
Macha
Malted cereals
Matzo
Matza

Meripro 711 * this modified wheat product has been linked to anaphylaxis in a recent Denmark study

Minchin
Seitan
Semolina
Spelt (dinkel, farro)
Superamine

Surimi (ingredient used to make imitation crab meat)

Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
Triticum aestivum
Wheat bran
Wheat flour
Wheat germ
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Sprouted wheat
Ingredients that may contain Wheat:
acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar and is sometimes derived from wheat)
alpha tocopherol
artificial coloring
Brewer's yeast
carmel coloring
carmel flavoring
clarifying agents
coloring
dextrin
dextrose
food starch
glucose
isolated vegetable protein
hydrolyzed plant protein
hydrolyzed vegetable protein
maltodextrin (this is often made from wheat in Europe and more commonly made from corn in America)
modified food starch
vegetable protein

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