Menu
Gluten-free fortified food plays an important role in helping people with celiac meet their nutrient requirements. This is because many fortified foods in the USA contain gluten and it can be difficult to get enough of those nutrients without gluten-filled fortified sources.
That said, there are some gluten-free fortified foods that can help us meet those gaps. In this post, we will be discussing why you might consider adding gluten-free fortified food to your diet and which ones are gluten-free in the USA.
Before we get into it, a lot of the options presented in this post do not have a gluten-free claim. A gluten-free claim is not always needed for food to be safe in the USA. To learn more about identifying gluten on food labels in the USA check out my FREE dietitian-led label-reading class here.
When talking about gluten-free fortified food, it’s important we know what gluten is. Gluten is a protein found in barley, rye, contaminated oats, and wheat. It may be helpful to remember the acronym “BROW” when trying to remember what foods have gluten.
In baked goods, gluten holds things together working as a binding agent. It gives texture and chew to foods.
Most people can safely eat gluten. However, some people have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease which means they need to avoid gluten. It can cause digestive issues such as diarrhea and nausea as well as nonintestinal symptoms such as rashes, headaches, or joint pain.
In the United States, most fortified food is not gluten-free. That’s because much of our fortified food sources come from bread and cereal that contain gluten. However, not all fortified food sources contain gluten. There are some gluten-free fortified foods on the market.
Fortification started in the USA when we started adding iodine to salt to prevent goiter in 1924. Most notably, in the 1940s the USA became alarmed by the number of people who were nutritionally unfit to enlist for World War II leading to the enrichment of bread to prevent nutrient deficiencies that cause severe health outcomes.
Because of these and other concerns, you’ll find many enriched and fortified grain products that have thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid, calcium, and vitamin D added to them. For some products this is required, for others it’s optional.
Grain products aren’t the only enriched and fortified products. Orange juice and non-dairy milk can also be fortified with essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and even vitamin B12 depending. We’ll get more into this later on.
The difference between gluten-free fortified foods and gluten-free enriched foods lies in the processing. To sum it up, enriching means adding the original nutrients back into processed foods. Fortifying means adding greatly-needed nutrients to foods that might not have had them in the first place.
So we enrich white rice with B vitamins that were lost during the processing vs. we add vitamin D to milk because it’s great to have alongside a source of calcium and fat. The difference doesn’t matter as much as the fact that people get these nutrients.
Now that we have a background in fortification and enrichment, let’s talk about gluten-free fortified foods. As I mentioned, many of our fortified and enriched foods contain gluten. But that doesn’t mean all of them contain gluten.
There are many fortified gluten-free cereals, bread, and drinks on the market. However, gluten-free versions of food aren’t always required to be fortified like gluten-filled versions so you need to make sure you’re checking your selections. Below are some of the fortified options on the market.
Cereal is one of the more common gluten-free fortified foods. While not all cereals are fortified or gluten-free, many are fortified with B vitamins and even iron.
Unfortunately, cereal is one of the many foods that has a bad reputation. Touted as being full of sugar and “bad” for you, many people stray away from it. However, it’s totally possible to balance a diet to include cereal.
This is actually something that I teach people how to do in my Celiac Nutrition Course. I teach them how to enjoy the foods they love (like cereal) while supporting their health. If you want clarity on how to heal your gut and address nutrient gaps on a gluten-free diet, you’ll definitely want to check out this dietitian-led course.
That said, now that we know gluten-free cereal can be a nourishing part of a balanced gluten-free diet, let’s talk about your fortified options – because not all gluten-free cereals are fortified! These options include gluten-free Chex, Kix, Trix, Fruity & Cocoa Pebbles, and Cream of Rice! More on them below!
Please note that these products are considered generally celiac-safe as they have gluten-free ingredients. But some people with celiac may need to be more strict or may not feel comfortable with these selections. Assess the suitability and safety of each item for yourself. At the end of the day, your comfort-level matters.
Chex cereals are enriched with calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins A and D, and all the B vitamins. And the good news is that all of the Chex cereals are gluten-free except for the ones marked as Wheat Chex.
If you’re buying Wheat Chex, it will say it boldly on the front of the box so it’s not too difficult to differentiate the Wheat Chex from the Corn Chex or the Rice Chex.
Trix is another fortified gluten-free food. It’s made with Whole Grain Corn, Sugar, Rice Flour, Corn Syrup, Canola and/or Sunflower Oil, Salt, Trisodium Phosphate, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and Other Color Added, Citric Acid, Malic Acid.
Note that it does not have a gluten-free claim but appears to be gluten-free aside from the natural flavors which have a very small chance of being derived from barley or rye. In this case, I’d say it’s highly unlikely the natural flavors are unsafe. But factor that into your safety decision and remember, not everything needs a gluten-free claim to be safe.
It’s fortified with calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, thiamin, vitamin A, B12, folic acid, and vitamin D.
Made with whole grain corn, corn meal, sugar, salt, brown sugar syrup, baking soda, vitamin E, and added vitamins and minerals, Kix is a gluten-free fortified food.
Note that it does not have a gluten-free claim but it gluten-free by ingredient. Factor that into your safety decision and remember, not everything needs a gluten-free claim to be safe.
It’s fortified with calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, thiamin, vitamin A, B12, folic acid, and vitamin D.
Honey Kix is similar to regular kix. It’s ingredients include: Whole Grain Corn, Corn Meal, Sugar, Honey, Salt, Brown Sugar Syrup, Caramel Color, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness plus nutrients added for fortification.
The only concern would the natural flavors which on rare occasions can be derived from barley or rye which would not be declared in the allergen statement. In this case, the risk is low but assess suitability for yourself. I did not get clarification from General Mills but they seem to do a good job of calling out barley and malt sources.
Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles are another gluten-free fortified food to enjoy. They’ve got niacin, iron, zinc, B6, Vitamin A, B2, Thiamin, Folate, B12, and Vitamin D added into them. While Rice Crispies and Krispex are not gluten-free, these are.
Note that it does not have a gluten-free claim but it gluten-free by ingredient. Factor that into your safety decision and remember, not everything needs a gluten-free claim to be safe.
Side note: Fruity pebbles were literally my favorite childhood cereal. My tummy knew what it was doing…
A more unique gluten-free fortified food is Cream of Rice Hot Cereal (affiliate link). It’s fortified with niacin, iron, thiamin, B6, riboflavin, folate, and vitamin D.
You can prepare and enjoy it as a hot cereal or you can bake with it to fortify your home-baked goods. There’s a recipe for Blueberry Lemon Muffins on the package to get you started, just be sure to use gluten-free cup-for-cup flour.
Note that it does not have a gluten-free claim but it gluten-free by ingredient. Factor that into your safety decision and remember, not everything needs a gluten-free claim to be safe.
You could also make a fortified hot rice cereal if you use enriched rice and a lucky iron fish in this rice porridge recipe!
Gluten-free fortified cereals out of the way, let’s get into other fortified foods. Gluten-free bread is not uniformly required to be enriched. You might want to look for fortified bread to boost nutrition since most gluten-free bread is made of nutrient-poor gums and starches.
That’s not to say you can’t enjoy bread that isn’t enriched, however, you might consider making a switch if you’re not in love with your current gluten-free bread and wouldn’t mind eating a different kind if it meant boosting nutrients.
Let’s say you are craving white bread. The La Brea White Artisanal Sandwich Bread might be up your alley. It contains added B vitamins (inc. Folic Acid) and iron. Note it does contain egg and xanthan gum if you are sensitive to those, but xanthan gum is considered to be generally safe.
La Brea also makes gluten-free Multi-Grain bread which has some B vitamins (inc. Folic Acid) added to it too if you prefer multi-grain bread over white bread.
Schar bread can be another gluten-free fortified food. However, Schar isn’t fortified with folate which is the biggest nutrient of concern here to help prevent birth defects. This bread still has fiber, calcium, niacin, iron, thiamine, and riboflavin added to it.
Scar gluten-free bread is my favorite if you’re trying to boost fiber on a gluten-free diet, however, the other added nutrients are negligible – they are still added to the bread.
Another gluten-free fortified food source is Glutino’s English Muffins. They’ve got iron, niacin, calcium, B6, Thiamin, and Riboflavin added to them.
The only caveat is that these are intended to stay frozen and if you’re anything like me, your freezer is already busting at the seems with gluten-free products.
Another gluten-free fortified food is nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast that you can add to your food to give it a boost of nutrition and flavor. Most people describe it as having a “cheese” like flavor.
It’s fortified with niacin, B6, thiamine, riboflavin, folate, and B12. Making it a source of B vitamins for those with celiac, and a source of B12 for those who are gluten-free and vegan.
gluten-free and vegan (affiliate link). It’s certified gluten-free too, which means even those most cautious people with celiac can enjoy it.
Now don’t confuse nutritional yeast with yeast extract. Yeast extract is not always gluten-free, whereas nutritional yeast is (as long as gluten hasn’t been added to it).
All of that said, if you’re considering nutritional yeast, you can enjoy it on salads, popcorn, toast, pizza, pasta, and more. It’s mainly used as a topping rather than an ingredient in cooking.
Don’t confuse fortified gluten-free nutritional yeast with marmite. Marmite can be found globally and is a yeast extract spread. It’s got Niacin, Thiamin, Riboflavin, and vitamin B12 added to it.
Yeast extract is not always gluten-free. In this case, marmite is made from spent brewers yeast which is not gluten-free and thus, marmite is not safe for people avoiding gluten.
The last of the gluten-free fortified foods we will be discussing today is enriched rice. Rice is a hot topic in the celiac world because of the fears of arsenic contamination. Enriched white rice complicates the topic.
It is thought that rinsing rice helps remove the arsenic however, if you rinse enriched rice, then you will be washing off the nutrients that have been added back in. The good news is that FDA research shows that rinsing before cooking rice has a minimal effect on arsenic content.
However, studies have shown that cooking your rice like you would pasta (boiling it in a big pot of water and straining the rice out) can reduce arsenic levels by as much as 60%. However, this would do the same thing rinsing rice would do, and reduce the amount of nutrients left over from the enrichment process if you did this with enriched rice.
Here’s the thing, what you decide to do and buy is up to you. If incorporating enriched rice into your diet is a realistic way for you to boost folate, iron, niacin and thiamine in your diet, then enjoy enriched rice. If you’d rather enjoy other fortified foods or natural sources of these nutrients instead, then do that. And if you’re not sure what to do, your dietitian can help you determine what will best fit your goals and needs.
To buy enriched rice, look for “enriched” on the bag.
With gluten-free fortified foods out of the way, let’s talk about fortified drinks. Both non-dairy milk and orange juices can be fortified.
This is important to note because not all orange juice and non-dairy milk are fortified. Building awareness around this can help you select those that are fortified to help boost nutrients of concern if you need to. Below are some of the gluten-free drinks to enjoy.
Non-dairy milk can be a source of gluten-free fortified food. That said, not all non-dairy milk is safe for celiac disease. Additionally, not all fortified non-dairy milk is fortified or created equal.
Non-dairy milk that isn’t fortified includes Elmhurst, Better Than Milk, Forager Project Cashew and Oatmilk, Malk, Many Koita products, Rise Oat Milk, and Simply milk.
That said, when using dairy-free milk, you can substitute it cup for cup in recipes. Meaning if you see a recipe calling for 1 cup of cow’s milk, you can use 1 cup of dairy-free milk.
When looking to buy gluten-free non-dairy milk, make sure you’re checking the label to ensure it’s safe. For example, not all oat milk is gluten-free. If you need help with identifying gluten-free foods in the USA, I cover how to select safe gluten-free foods in 4-simple steps in my FREE label-reading class.
You’ll also want to look for added minerals and vitamins to make sure it’s fortified milk. That said, below are some gluten-free non-dairy milk that is fortified with nutrients.
Both the shelf-stable and the refrigerated original coconut milk by So Delicious (affiliate link) are gluten-free and fortified with nutrients. They’ve got calcium, magnesium, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and zinc added to them.
I like their creamy consistency and neutral flavor in cereal. The important thing here is that this is a plant source of B12 which is especially helpful if you are vegan as not all plant milk has B12.
So Delicious also fortified their Wondermilk which is made from oats and coconuts. This is one of the few gluten-free oat milks on the market as it’s certified gluten-free by GFCO. Read more about gluten-free oat milk here.
Pacific Foods Hemp Original (affiliate link) is an example of another gluten-free fortified food. Hemp milk is described to have a mild nuttiness flavor though is thought to still be pleasant. That said, personally, I think it tastes like dirt.
Don’t let that scare you from trying it though as it is a source of calcium and vitamin D both of which are important for bone health with celiac disease. Other Pacific Foods milk do not contain as much calcium or vitamin D or aren’t fortified.
Blue Diamond brand Almond Breeze Original (affiliate link) has the smooth consistency of cow milk and is rather neutral in flavor especially if you are combining it with something else such as cereal or in a recipe that calls for milk. It contains Calcium, Potassium, Vit A, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.
Most notably, it offers one of the highest amounts of calcium amongst dairy-free milk at 450mg/serving. This makes it one of my favorite sources of gluten-free calcium.
Orange juice can be a gluten-free fortified food to add to your diet. I know juice unfortunately has gotten very negative labels in the nutrition world however, despite what diet culture says, it can be a part of a balanced diet.
That said, before we get into fortified orange juice sources, I think it’s important to discuss the availability of the calcium and vitamin D that can be added to orange juice.
A 2005 study followed 25 healthy women who were divided into two groups and received orange juice in two different forms. One group got 500mg of calcium citrate & malate, and the other group got 500mg of tricalcium phosphate and calcium lactate. Findings found that those who were given calcium citrate absorbed ~48% more calcium than the tricalcium phosphate group.
This is important to take into consideration when selecting orange juices if you’re doing so for calcium. In this case, you’d want to choose orange juice that uses calcium citrate and malate. But I don’t know if it’s something you’d need to really stress about.
That said, fortified orange juices to enjoy on the market include the following brands: Minute Maid, Florida’s Natural Orange Juice, Tropicana, and Simply Orange. That said, not all products by these brands will be fortified, so be sure to check the label if this matters to you.
Most notably, Tropicana 50 has 50% less sugar AND is fortified with tons of nutrients like potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, calcium, beta carotene, vitamin E, niacin, thiamine, B6, and riboflavin. It tastes a little less sweet as it has been diluted to reduce sugar/calories.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the enriched and fortified gluten-free products out there but this gives you an introduction. As you can see, there are still nutritious options even if you are not choosing whole grain options. Enriched and fortified foods can be part of a healthy diet and help you meet vital nutrient intake goals enjoyably.
And don’t forget, if you want dietitian-led support on how to eat to heal your gut and address nutrient gaps and deficiencies with celiac disease, this is exactly what I cover in the Celiac Nutrition Course!