Everyone has favorite holidays, and one of mine is Easter, for both religious and secular reasons. What’s not to love about bunnies and chicks, chocolate, and the arrival of spring? Easter comes with its own special celebratory treats, but for anyone on a gluten-free diet, that means it also comes with some confusion.
Back when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease, I was given a list of foods that I couldn’t eat. This was 20 years ago, and some of the information turned out to be wrong. But because of this list, for years I believed that I couldn’t eat oats or glucose syrup. Fortunately, that bad advice has been updated. Oats don’t contain gluten, though they may be contaminated with wheat during processing. The distillation process involved in making glucose syrup kills gliadin, the problem protein in wheat. This makes glucose syrup safe for celiacs, though it is still unsafe for anyone with a wheat allergy.
I mention this because one of the trickiest things about being on a gluten-free diet is that you learn to read labels carefully, so you can suss out any potential sources of gluten. But it can be frustrating to read labels for products that list no problematic ingredients and yet aren’t listed as gluten-free. This tends to happen a lot around Easter, and I suspect the culprit is often glucose syrup.
A case in point: Cadbury’s Easter Creme Eggs.
Growing up, I was thrilled by their appearance in the weeks before Easter. Post celiac diagnosis, I avoided them because they contained glucose syrup that was made from wheat. But after discovering that glucose syrup isn’t a problem for celiacs, I started to think I might be able to have them again. I contacted Hershey’s, the company that now owns Cadbury’s, to ask, but I’ve never had a clear answer. (The company’s response is that they clearly label their products for allergens, which doesn’t answer my question.) It’s frustrating, because Hershey’s maintains a list of gluten-free products — including seasonal candy — on its website… and that list doesn’t include Easter Creme Eggs.
Ultimately, it’s left up to individuals to decide what they can safely consume when a product’s in the gray zone, and that’s unfortunate. Gluten-intolerant people already have to give up on many foods and on a lot of convenience. But there are lists to make this process a little bit easier. Here’s a terrific list of gluten-free candy from Verywell; here’s the Hershey’s list. It’s always smart to read the label in case something changes, but when you’re in a pinch, it’s great to have a cheat sheet. For the home cooks in the audience, this long list of gluten-free Easter recipes from Eating Well is a favorite source of mine (some of these get used year-round).
I’ll be away next week for an Easter break, so I’ll see you again the first week of April. Happy Easter to all who celebrate, and happy spring to all!
PS If any of your are crime-fiction fans, pick up the current issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (March/April 2024). My story, “The Good Father,” is in it, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. (For those who know me primarily from this newsletter, my day job is writing mystery novels and short stories.)
I hope you have a lovely Easter, Hilary! Thank you for sharing the gluten-free Easter candy lists. I'm a Reese's PB cup person all the way.