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The stress of staying gluten-free and cooking every meal every single day can be overwhelming. For reason, many people ask me what are the celiac safe meal delivery companies?
What’s the difference between meal delivery and meal kit companies? Meal delivery typically means the delivery of meals that are full prepared and just need reheheated. Gluten-free meal delivery is good for people who are looking for quick gluten-free meals they can put in the microwave.
Meal kits on the other hand, typically mean a meal that has all of the ingredients pre-portioned out but you still need to prepare it. Gluten-free meal kits are a good option for celiacs looking to build their gluten-free cooking skills without stressing over sourcing ingredients.
This post is divided into two sections: celiac safe meal delivery companies and celiac safe meal kit companies.
Before we dive into the companies, we must first get on the same page on what celiac safe meal kits means. In general, if the company has a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, dedicate gluten-free area of the kitchen, or strong cross-contact precautions to avoid cross-contact from happening with gluten-free options, then the meal delivery can be considered celiac-safe.
That said, I know celiacs have a variety of reactivities, food sensitivities, and comfort levels so this may vary per person. As always, determine the suitability and safety of each option for yourself.
The following are the questions we considered for each company when researching and calling them:
Which meal delivery companies are gluten-free and celiac safe? I searched the internet and contact many companies to find out where you can safely order gluten-free prepared meals safely to your door. Here is what I found…
In fall 2020, I was gifted Eat to Evove prepared meals and they were pretty delicious. All of there meals are gluten-free and made in a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. I thought they were pretty delicious. If you’re looking to try them you can try to use the code “celiac” to get 20% off. (Not an affiliate code, just a discount they gave me to share with people)
I was gifted Metabolic Meals to try in summer 2020 and they were also pretty good (thought I thought Evolve had more flavor). They also only offer gluten-free meals and prepare all gluten-free foods in a dedicated gluten-free facility.
Another great 100% gluten-free meal delivery option is Modify Health. All of their meals are gluten-free and prepared in a dedicated gluten-free facility. Not to mention they have a low-FODMAP plan to help those who are struggling with IBD, SIBO, and IBS with celiac.
Continuing on with the list of 100% gluten-free meal delivery options, Epicured meal delivery also offers all gluten-free prepared meals. The also only use certified gluten-free and purity oats and certified gluten-free baking ingredients.
All that said, the do not use a dedicated gluten-free kitchen to prepare gluten-free meals. Not to fear though, they do have strong cross-contact safety protocols to prevent gluten contamination. Including washing all equipment, surfaces, tools, appliances between use. Additionally, they keep the gluten-free areas strictly separate from the gluten areas in the kitchen.
Per the Freshly website: “Freshly is certified as a gluten-free food service by the Gluten Intolerance Group”. However Freshly does serve some gluten containing meals, so be careful when ordering.
When we called Freshly to make sure of their GF status, they confirmed they are a certified gluten-free facility. And when it comes to swapping ingredients they say they don’t and they said they use different suppliers for gluten-filled and gluten-free meal-kits to avoid cross-contact.
Are Daily Harvest Meal-Delivery kits gluten-free? The FAQ on their said 100% of their food was gluten-free. But then my concern are the oats…
Are they using oats safe for celiac? I message them to find out! Below is what they said:
“All of the Daily Harvest food is naturally gluten-free, and we follow all FDA guidelines to ensure that our ingredients and finished food are gluten-free and well below the FDA gluten-free limit of 20 ppm.
Moreover, we take allergens very seriously and require all of our suppliers to have allergen management plans to prevent cross-contamination with any allergen.”
Sounds to me like Daily Harvest is celiac-safe.
Per the FAQ section of their website, all Freshnlean ready-prepared meals are gluten-free. When we called them, they confirmed the used a separate kitchen from gluten and that they use a certified gluten-free facility. Even their oats are confirmed gluten-free (learn more about when oats are celiac-safe here)
Below are the meal-kit companies I interviewed and researched for celiac-safety. Some of them were the first one’s to pop up when I searched “gluten-free meal-kits” others are popular companies you see advertised across the internet. Here’s what I found…
Another super popular meal kit company that is not likely safe for celiacs. This is because they have no statements about gluten on their website. However, when looking through their FAQ I did see their allergen accommodation statement which makes it clear: it not safe for celiacs.
Their allergen statement reads as follows: “All of our ingredients are packaged in a facility that also processes milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy. Because of this, we don’t recommend ordering Blue Apron if you have a severe food allergy.”
Green chef offer gluten-free meal kits delivered to your door. Unfortunately, as of writing this, there is no way to filter out gluten-free meals on their website. You just have to look for the gluten-free tag on the recipe listing. Because the gluten-free options are so dispersed throughout the regular options, I was concerned about the celiac-safety of Green Chef.
That said, when calling Green Chef and asking about their gluten-free accommodation, they confirmed they prepare gluten-free food in a completely different facility. Preventing any cross-contact that might occur having gluten-filled and gluten-free food in the same kitchen and prep areas.
Home chef, one of the more well-known meal delivery companies is not 100% gluten-free. When calling them they said do not prepare gluten-free options in separate kitchens or separate ares. They did say that all ingredients are packaged, so it’s easily for the home cook to it out if they need to.
When asking Home Chef further about the risk of cross-contact with gluten, they said they can’t guarantee it but that it’s unlikely. It’s unlikely because everything comes to their facility already prepackaged. If there are ever ingredients that do need to be packaged, or if anything needs to be substituted, they always notify the customer before it’s shipped out. All nutrition and ingredient information can be provided to customers if requested (not necessarily the most convenient).
Further, employees to not receive specific allergy training. However, all employees are trained to follow their substitution policies. And lastly, they do not test any of their gluten-free recipe kits for gluten-free status (<20ppm).
When chatting with their representatives, Purple Carrot does not currently have a gluten-free plan for prepared meals but does have one for gluten-free meal kits. The meal-kits are prepared to be 100% gluten-free but their facilities do also prepare non-gluten free meal kits. They assured me though, that they clean all machinery/packing equipment/tables with hot soapy water in between prepping different ingredients for the kits.
And what do we celiacs know about hot soapy water? That it does a good job at removing cross-contact to <20ppm in most settings. They also assured me that workers are changing their gloves when switching between prepping different ingredients too.
We didn’t even bother calling Hello Fresh given their statement on their website makes it clear they aren’t invested in serving safe gluten-free meals. Per their FAQ section “While HelloFresh has a variety of meal choices each week, we do not offer gluten-free, dairy-free, or nut-free meals. We leave it to our customers to review the recipes each week and determine which ones best meet their dietary needs.”
Sun Basket does offer gluten-free meal-kits but they are not considered celiac-safe. This is because when asked, a Sun Basket phone representative said “It would NOT be appropriate for someone with celiac disease”. This is due to the gluten-free recipes being prepared in the same facility as gluten-filled ones. No other information was provided.
This is concerning to me as when I google “gluten-free meal delivery”, Sunbasket is one of the first to come up. Yikes.
Martha and Marley Spoon Kit Meals offer “no gluten added” options. We love to see “no gluten added” don’t we? It doesn’t raise up an red flags does it?
Holding out hope, I contacted the Martha and Marley Spoon Meal Kit support team about what their set up was to prevent cross-contact. Specifically, if they had separate areas of the kitchen for the “no gluten added” options or if they had any training on the prevention of cross-contact.
The support member responded saying that their boxes are all packaged in the same facility and that some cross-contact can occur. Which didn’t specifically answer either of my questions, I would say approach with caution based on their answers.
There quite a few generally celiac safe meal delivery and meal-kit options. While I screened a bunch of options for you in this post, make sure you do your own due diligence in making sure these options are suitable for your unique needs.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few options for celiacs.