Is Jello gluten free? If you're avoiding gluten for health reasons like celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, or just to simplify your diet, it's important to know if Jell-o products contain gluten. Jello's fruit gelatin and flavored pudding are popular desserts often served as desserts and made into salads, puddings, cakes, and pies.
These products are also used as ingredients in other jello desserts. Find out whether Jello is gluten-free so you can make informed decisions about your food and health.
What Is Jello?
Jell-o desserts are made by the Kraft Heinz brands of food. This is the most popular gelatin dessert in the United States. There are several different types of Jello on the market. First, the Jell-o brand includes ready-made products plus mixes to make at home. Jello cups are easy snacks since they're already prepared. On the other hand, Jello mixes need to be made at home with simple ingredients before being eaten. Jello comes in tons of flavors like raspberry, peach, cherry, strawberry and lime.
Kraft also has two major Jello categories: pudding and gelatin options. Puddings are creamy treats that usually contain cornstarch. Jello gelatin is available in many fruit flavors. These treats contain gelatin from animal bones and tissues, so they aren't vegetarian or vegan. Jello might not be kosher or halal, depending on the gelatin source. But is it jello gluten-free?
What Does Kraft Heinz Say About Allergens?
Jello isn't certified gluten-free, but it may still be a safe addition to your diet. According to the Kraft Heinz website, Jell-o, and all other Kraft foods are labeled for wheat and other major food allergens. They also promise to list all gluten ingredients on the package. This includes grains other than wheat like barley, oats, rye, triticale, kamut, spelt, farina, and mir. If flavoring and other ingredients contain gluten products, that should be listed as well.
Does Jell-o Contain Gluten?
Here's some good news: almost all Jell-o is gluten-free! Kraft makes more than 300 different Jello products, so it's always a good idea to check the package if you have gluten intolerance. But generally, Jello is a safe addition to your gluten free diet.
Gluten-Free Jello 3 Oz Gelatin Mixes
Gelatin mixes have very few ingredients, which makes them easy to check. Gelatin dessert mixes are powders that you make at home with water, juice, or other basic ingredients. Gelatin and sugar are the main ingredients. Sugar-free Jello versions made with artificial sweeteners are also available.
Jello sells a wide range of flavors, but the base recipe is the same. The mix simply includes sugar, gelatin, adipic acid, less than 2% natural and artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sodium citrate, fumaric acid, and food coloring.
Flavoring is always tricky to see on an ingredient list because there's no information on what the flavoring contains. However, Kraft promises to note any ingredients that contain gluten. The Jello should be gluten-free if the box doesn't say the flavoring contains gluten.
GF Jello Pudding
Jello pudding mixes also have relatively short ingredient lists. Just like Jello's fruit-flavored gelatin treats, pudding mixes are easy to make at home. You can find instant pudding varieties that are ready in minutes, plus cook-and-serve pudding that takes a little longer.
Typical Jell-o pudding mixes include sugar, modified cornstarch, less than 2% of flavoring, disodium phosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, salt, and coloring.
Again, flavoring is a broad category that can include many different ingredients. Kraft labels should state if the food has any gluten-containing ingredients. Make sure to check for this information before making a box of pudding.
Gluten Free Jello Pudding Cups
Jello's pudding cups contain single servings of prepared pudding. Pudding cups are available in various flavors, including vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and more. Since this pudding is already prepared, it has more ingredients than the Jell-o pudding mix. Luckily, most Jello pudding cups are still gluten free.
Most Jello pudding cups are made from skim milk, water, sugar, modified cornstarch, and less than 1.5% of hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut And palm kernel oils), cornstarch, salt, calcium phosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate (For Smooth Texture), sodium alginate, artificial color, natural and artificial flavor, and food color. Varieties may also include extra flavor ingredients. For example, chocolate pudding includes cocoa powder.
Gluten-Free Jello Gelatin Dessert Cups
Gelatin cups are individual servings of fruit-flavored desserts. Just like Jell-o pudding cups contain similar ingredients to pudding mixes, the gelatin cups also have similar ingredients compared to the gelatin mix.
Most Jello gelatin snack cups contain water, sugar, fruit juice, gelatin, and less than 2% adipic acid, citric acid, sodium citrate, flavor, and coloring.
Are Other Dessert Brands Gluten-Free?
Most Kraft Jello desserts are gluten free. If you find a variety that contains gluten, this information should be clearly listed on the ingredient label. But what about other gelatin and pudding brands?
Gelatin desserts contain a few ingredients: sugar, gelatin, and flavor. These foods are unlikely to contain gluten because the recipe simply doesn't need it. Vegan and kosher brands like Bakol shouldn't contain gluten, either.
Pudding, on the other hand, can be more complicated. Pudding uses thickeners like cornstarch, arrowroot powder, or milk ingredients to achieve its creamy texture. Some brands could use ingredients with gluten for this purpose. Check the package before you buy, make, or eat these desserts.
Enjoying Jello Without Gluten
Jell-o is almost always a safe choice when you're avoiding gluten. These gelatin and pudding desserts use recipes that don't use gluten. Kraft, the company that makes Jell-o, promises to list allergens like gluten on their packaging. It's still a good idea to be careful when eating Jello. Read the ingredients, ask about food preparation methods, and watch for cross-contamination at parties and events. With some basic precautions, your family can still enjoy this classic treat. No need to say goodbye to those jello shots!
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