Not so fast...
You would think I would be stoked with the rising amount of gluten free products out there and how popular it is becoming. Not so much. Walking down the grocery aisles now you see "GLUTEN FREE" advertised on items and people get all excited and buy it. STOP. Think about the item, where it was made, and if it ever even contained gluten in the first place...I could go on for days about this and will eventually create a post about it, but I don't want to scare you all away just yet!!
There are tons of products to fall victim to this advertising craze, but for today, I'm talking toothpaste. So say you are glutenista as myself, and you're walking down the toothpaste aisle, you see the regulars (crest, colgate, arm and hammer) and then you see one screaming "GLUTEN FREE." What do you do? Buy it.
Why? You eat gluten free, therefore so my toothpaste should be gluten free too. But wait?! Gluten comes from wheat, there's wheat in toothpaste? NO. So, maybe the factory where toothpaste is made is not gluten free? Maybe. See there are regulations on being able to label products "gluten free" and if there are traces of gluten in the factory, the product cannot be claimed gluten free. But say you're buying Crest brand toothpaste, why the heck would there ever be gluten in that factory? It's all toothpaste, floss, mouthwash...pretty sure they're not baking bread up in there.
Now that was my personal take on the issue, but I know some people out there have gluten sensitivities so severe that they would rather be safe than sorry, so naturally they just go with the "GLUTEN FREE" version. There's nothing wrong with it, but I just wanted to put it out there that the toothpaste you are currently using is most likely gluten free. No need to jump on that band wagon just yet.
Here is a list of approved gluten free tooth pastes (they claim their other products are gf as well):
So as far as gluten is concerned, these other brands are safe to use, but keep in mind that they may contain artificial colors and flavors. This is an important issue in my household and something you may want to think about if you have children (who probably eat more of their bright blue berry blast toothpaste rather than brush with it).
GO TOM'S! (btw they usually have coupons and free samples through their facebook page)
happy brushing!
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