Updated guide to coeliac disease and gluten-free food
An updated guide published by the Danish Health Authority provides people with coeliac disease and their families with information and practical advice on living gluten-free. The DTU National Food Institute contributed research showing that foods labelled ‘May contain traces of wheat or gluten’ generally pose no greater risk to people with coeliac disease than foods without this label.
Picture of wheat from: Colourbox
Friday 09 October 2026
Sidsel Kretzschmer Henriksen
Following a lifelong gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment for coeliac disease. The new edition of the guide Coeliac disease and gluten-free food brings together up-to-date information and provides practical advice on choosing food, cooking, shopping and eating away from home.
DTU National Food Institute contributed particularly to the section on food labelling. This contribution draws, among other things, on a study of 128 foods containing no gluten-containing ingredients. Some carried precautionary labelling, while others did not.
The study found that the risk of consuming these products was generally low and that there was little difference between products with and without precautionary labelling. People with coeliac disease can therefore generally eat foods with no gluten-containing ingredients, even if they are labelled ‘May contain traces of wheat or gluten’.
However, the guide advises continued caution with products where there is a clear risk of gluten contamination, such as products from bakeries.
The guide was published by the Danish Health Authority and developed in collaboration with DTU National Food Institute, the Danish Veterinary and Food Authority, the Danish Coeliac Society and a number of healthcare professionals. The first edition was published in 2000 at the initiative of what is now DTU National Food Institute.
