Gluten in Makeup: Debate on Celiac Safety

By:
in Celiac, Features
Published: June 12, 2013

Shopping Advice

Wondering whether there is gluten in makeup that you use? Tricia Thompson, known online as the Gluten-Free Dietitian, and a colleague undertook a study earlier this year on four lip products and two lotions. Their results, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, showed gluten levels so negligible that they couldn’t be quantified.

But Thompson notes that a much larger study has yet to be done. Until that time, she offers these tips to celiac individuals looking to avoid inadvertent gluten ingestion:

1. Read the ingredients listed on cosmetics. Look for any mention of wheat, barley, malt, rye, oat, triticum vulgare, hordeum vulgare, secale cereale and avena sativa. Those are ingredients to avoid.

2. If the product is too small to contain a complete list of what is in it on the label, look for what is known as an “off-package ingredient list.” This is required by law in the U.S. for all cosmetics sold on a retail basis. It must be conspicuously placed so that it is easy to read before you buy it, either on an information panel or as an attached tag, tape or card.

3. Contact cosmetic manufacturers and ask whether makeup products or lotions contain any ingredients derived from wheat, barley, rye, or oats.

4. Look for cosmetics that are labeled as gluten-free.

See also:
Gluten-Free Finds: Makeup