gluten in…tea?!
March 25, 2011 at 10:03 am 10 comments
Heads up my GF tea drinking friends because it is true: gluten can lurk where we least expect it: in our cups of tea. Tea nerd alert: tea is actually camellia sinensis, a specific shrub, and herbal teas are typically infusions and do not contain any actual tea. If you stick with straight up tea, you know you are getting a cup of camellia sinensis, whether that tea is black, green, white or oolong. But what if you want a comforting caffeine-free beverage made of an infusion of herbs, flowers, bark and leaves? What could possibly contain gluten in herbal tea?
Cue the scary music: Barley malt is considered unsafe for those with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity and is used as a sweetener in some herbal teas, such as Yogi Tea’s Stomach Ease. From Valerie Crowley at Yogi Tea: “Barley malt is in only 5 of our 56 flavors of tea. It is in the Calming Tea, Stomach Ease Tea, Fasting Tea, Kava Stress Relief Tea and the Decaf Roast Tea.”
Another tea to look out for is Tazo tea, which is served at Starbucks. Phone calls to two locations in Sonoma County revealed that the baristas were not aware of any gluten in their teas. My super sleuthing led me to learn that Green Ginger filterbags, Tazo Honeybush filterbags, Lemon Ginger juiced tea and Tea Lemonade juiced tea are not gluten free.
Be careful out there and be a gluten detective! Or at least bring your gluten-sniffing dog with you everywhere. Don’t expect your hard working baristas to know; go online, contact companies, and be aware of every ingredient in your cup of herbal tea. Let’s make sure our next cup of tea is gluten free!
. . .
Guest blogging by Janine Acevedo M.E.C.S.E. Janine is a GF mom of a GF kid and works as an early intervention special educator. She is also the San Francisco Early Intervention writer for examiner.com.
Entry filed under: general, ingredients. Tags: barley malt, celiac disease, gluten-free, starbucks, tazo tea, tea, yogi tea.
1.
Heather | March 25, 2011 at 10:14 am
Wow… staying gluten-free is a full-time job!
2.
Lauren Jessen | March 25, 2011 at 10:14 am
Say it isn’t so! Gluten in our tea?? Sheesh..worth it to email these companies and ask them (politely of course) to cease and desist?
3.
Kate | March 26, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Yep, in your tea — this seems to be pretty common knowledge amongst all the celiacs I know. Just like packaged spices, there is gluten in a quite a lot of boxed teas, for various flavoring/preservative reasons (why would you assume there wouldn’t be?). I really like Tazo, actually — they have several gluten free options as well. Their Zen variety, a green tea with mint, is gluten free AND available at Starbucks, which makes for a very nice (and readily available) GF option if you’re out and about. You can also easily steep your own loose herbs, saving paper and gaining some peace of mind knowing exactly what you’ve put into your cup. Stay positive!
4.
lackingfunds | March 26, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Don’t forget Celestial Seasonings: http://wheatfreeliving.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/wheat-in-tea/
5.
Maya Klauber | March 27, 2011 at 11:56 am
Wow, thank you so much for the heads up Janine!!! I would never have thought to look in teas. Also, thank you for making this so well-written and entertaining as well as informative. You’re wonderful…
<3 Maya
6.
Janine Acevedo | March 29, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Thank you, Maya, for your positive feedback. I’m glad this information may help someone out there!
7.
Janine Acevedo | March 27, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Thanks for the comments and feedback! We are all at various stages of learning about living gluten free; the more we know and share, the healthier we’ll be. Thanks again!
8.
jenn | March 29, 2011 at 12:11 pm
A couple of years ago I got sick from Tazo china green tips tea. I never found out for sure why that was, but some other people had the same experience:
http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/44965-any-tips-about-tazo-china-green-tips-tea/
I never touch Tazo brand anymore, I do enjoy Yogi regular and decaf green tea with no problems. Recently I started drinking nettle tea (just the pure dried herb) and it is very good.
9.
Janine Brune | May 6, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Don’t we have to check every tea, because I thought it was in the bags. It is a full time job. But an important job if we want to be healthy.
10.
theglutenfreelab | May 6, 2011 at 3:48 pm
It’s certainly a commitment to take control of a gluten-free diet! But doing your research just allows you to eat and drink freely. Which we fully support!