If you’re hosting someone with coeliac disease, choose biscuits whose current packaging says ‘gluten-free’ and keep them separate from ordinary biscuits and crumbs on the buffet. Then decide whether you need a savoury, sweet or lactose-free option too. Check the other allergens on each pack, and ask your guest whether they can eat gluten-free oats before serving oat biscuits.
You’re looking for biscuits labelled gluten-free and want to stop them coming into contact with crumbs from ordinary biscuits when they’re served. The Dutch Coeliac Society highlights the importance of preventing cross-contamination.
As well as gluten, you may need to consider milk, eggs, soya, nuts or lupin. Read the allergen information on each product you choose separately.
You want the gluten-free option to suit more than one part of the meal, such as a savoury biscuit with drinks and a sweet one with coffee. Check each variety again to make sure it’s suitable for the guests you’re catering for.
Start by checking the gluten-free label and planning how to serve the biscuits separately. Then choose the flavour and check for any other dietary requirements.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Gluten-free and served separately | Read the gluten-free statement on the current packaging, and use a separate plate and clean serving utensils. | If a guest has coeliac disease, I want to serve a suitable biscuit without it coming into contact with crumbs from ordinary biscuits. For around 39% of consumers, this combination of product choice and buffet service is the top priority. |
| Other allergens | Read the allergen information for each variety, taking your guests’ dietary requirements into account. | If a guest needs to avoid something else as well as gluten, I don’t want to assume that one gluten-free plate will automatically suit everyone. Around 23% of consumers give this extra allergen check top priority. |
| Flavour and buffet occasion | Decide whether you’re looking for something savoury to serve with drinks or something sweet to have with coffee or dessert. | When there are several buffet occasions, I want the gluten-free guest to have an option that goes with the food too. This choice of flavour and purpose matters most to around 23% of consumers. |
| Availability | Check the retailer or product page shortly before you buy, and compare the information with the packaging of the product you purchase. | For a holiday celebration, I want to know in good time whether I can buy my chosen biscuits, and have an alternative ready if I can’t. For around 15% of consumers, this planning is their main concern. |
Gluten-free biscuits may still contain milk, eggs, soya, almonds or lupin, for example. So the same plate may not suit every guest’s dietary requirements.
Check the allergen information on every pack and discuss any additional restrictions with the guest in advance.
According to the Dutch Coeliac Society, crumbs and shared kitchen utensils can cause cross-contamination. A gluten-free label won’t prevent contact on the table.
Keep the biscuits separate, leave them in their packaging until serving if possible, and use clean, separate serving utensils.
Ingredients and allergen information can change. A range overview also won’t tell you which variety is available when you shop.
Read the packaging of the product you actually buy, and have a second suitable biscuit option in mind for the buffet.
Joybuy notes that, according to Verkade, a small number of people with coeliac disease may be sensitive to oat protein, even when the oats used are gluten-free.
Ask your guest whether gluten-free oats are suitable for them. If not, choose another biscuit whose current packaging says ‘gluten-free’.
These product ranges offer a variety of buffet options. Always check the packaging of the variety you buy.
Under this label, Albert Heijn offers sweet almond biscuits and savoury Gouda cheese biscuits, among other products.
This biscuit range from Jumbo includes gluten-free speculaas, stroopwafels and digestives with milk chocolate, among other products.
Jumbo describes Céréal Gluten-free & Lactose-free Chocolate Biscuits as a sweet option free from gluten and lactose.
ALDI offers gluten-free coconut macaroons and coconut biscuits from Heerlijck Banket.
Verkade GV Oaties Milk Chocolate is an oat biscuit with milk chocolate, shown by Joybuy in a 150 g pack.
Lidl promotes a gluten-free range that you could explore as a possible place to shop.
The numbered list groups savoury biscuits, an option for guests with two dietary requirements, and two types of sweet biscuits by their role on the buffet. It isn’t a ranking by quality or sales.
| Position | Biscuit | Features | Why consider it? | Retailer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AH Glutenvrij Gouda cheese biscuits 100 g | Gluten-free savoury cheese biscuits; 100 g. | For a savoury buffet occasion. Albert Heijn lists milk, lactose and lupin, and warns that the biscuits may contain sesame and nuts. | Albert Heijn |
| 2 | Céréal Gluten-free & Lactose-free Chocolate Biscuits 150 g | Gluten-free and lactose-free according to Jumbo; 150 g. | For a guest avoiding both ingredients. Jumbo’s product information also lists soya, so check for other allergens too. | Jumbo |
| 3 | Jumbo Lekker Vrij Gluten-free Speculaas 125 g | Gluten-free speculaas; 125 g. | A classic sweet flavour to enjoy with coffee. According to Jumbo’s range information, check the packaging of the variety you choose for other ingredients and allergens. | Jumbo |
| 4 | Verkade GV Oaties Milk Chocolate 150 g | Gluten-free oats and milk chocolate; 150 g. | For a sweet buffet occasion, if your guest can eat gluten-free oats. Joybuy lists milk, oats and soya, possible traces of nuts, and a warning that a small number of people with coeliac disease may be sensitive to oats. | Joybuy |
This option could suit the sweet part of your coffee or dessert buffet, provided your guest can eat gluten-free oats and has no issue with the other allergens.
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For a separate gluten-free plate of biscuits to serve with coffee, if your guest can eat gluten-free oats.
Joybuy describes this oat biscuit with milk chocolate as gluten-free. According to the product information, it contains milk, oats and soya, may contain nuts, and a small number of people with coeliac disease may be sensitive to oat protein. Discuss the oats with your guest in advance and check the current packaging.
The current gluten-free statement is important when choosing a product, but you also need to prevent cross-contamination at a buffet. According to the Dutch Coeliac Society, crumbs from ordinary biscuits can contaminate gluten-free food, so keep plates and serving utensils separate.
Put them in a separate place and use clean, separate serving utensils. If possible, leave them in their packaging until serving, and stop guests from putting ordinary biscuits into the gluten-free plate or reaching into its packaging.
A gluten-free product may contain gluten-free wheat starch, while wheat is still listed in the allergen information. Albert Heijn explains this for its gluten-free almond biscuits. So distinguish between the gluten-free statement for a guest with coeliac disease and the full allergen check for someone who needs to avoid wheat.
Not without checking with your guest. Joybuy notes that, according to Verkade, a small number of people with coeliac disease may be sensitive to oat protein. Also check the current packaging for milk, soya and possible traces of nuts.
Don’t plan around a single limited-edition range. Check which biscuits are available before you buy, read the packaging of the product you choose, and have an alternative ready that meets the same gluten-free and allergen requirements.
