If you’re hosting someone with coeliac disease, choose bread or rolls clearly labelled as gluten-free, and prepare and serve them separately from regular bread. Sliced bread works well for topped bites; for a shared dinner, you could also consider mini baguettes or bread to share. Check the ingredients, other allergens and nutritional information for each product: gluten-free does not, in itself, tell you whether it contains wholegrain ingredients or has been made with baker’s salt.
You’re looking for a clearly labelled gluten-free product and want to prevent it coming into contact with crumbs, kitchen utensils or shared dips. The Dutch Coeliac Society also advises taking care during preparation.
You want to choose between small topped toasts, rolls and bread to share. The way you serve it should suit the meal while allowing you to keep the gluten-free portions separate.
You want to see on the packaging which wholegrain ingredients have been used, how much fibre and salt the product contains per 100 g, and whether there are warnings about other allergens.
For coeliac disease, a gluten-free label and separate preparation come first. Then choose a bread shape that suits the dinner, and compare the labels if wholegrain ingredients or nutritional values matter to you.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Serving gluten-free food | Check the gluten-free label and ingredients; use separate, clean utensils and surfaces for preparation and serving. | If my guest has coeliac disease, I want to prevent crumbs or shared dips from coming into contact with their food. For around 42% of consumers, safe, separate preparation comes first. |
| Bread shape for dinner | Choose between sliced bread for topped bites and rolls or bread to share; check the quantity on the packaging. | For a shared dinner, I want to serve bread that goes with the food and can be served separately. Around 25% of consumers give this way of serving bread the highest priority. |
| Wholegrain ingredients and nutritional information | Check which ingredients are listed as wholegrain and compare fibre and salt per 100 g; also look for warnings about other allergens. | I want to know what’s in the bread, especially if my guest needs to avoid ingredients other than gluten too. For around 17% of consumers, comparing labels matters most. |
| Baker’s salt if regularly replacing other bread | Check whether baker’s salt is listed in the ingredients when gluten-free bread regularly replaces regular bread. | If I’m going to eat a different type of bread more often, I don’t want to assume it provides the same amount of iodine. This is the top priority for around 16% of consumers. |
A dark colour, seeds or sourdough don’t mean bread is suitable for someone with coeliac disease. Regular bread made with wheat, rye or spelt is not a gluten-free alternative.
Choose a product that’s clearly labelled gluten-free and read the ingredients list for the exact product.
The Dutch Coeliac Society warns that crumbs and shared tongs, knives or dips can transfer gluten to gluten-free portions.
Keep the bread wrapped until you’re ready to serve it, and use a clean, separate work surface, serving utensils and dips.
Seeds and wholegrain describe different things. A product name also doesn’t give you the full picture of its fibre, salt or warnings about other allergens.
Compare the wholegrain ingredients listed, the nutritional values per 100 g and the allergen information on the packaging.
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre says iodine is added to baker’s salt, but bread does not have to be made with it. You can’t tell whether it has been used from the words gluten-free or wholegrain.
Check the ingredients list if this matters to you when regularly replacing other bread.
These examples show different bread shapes and label details to look out for. Always check the specific product you want to serve.
Jumbo describes Céréal Gluten Free Lactose Free Wholemeal Bread as sliced bread made with rice flour and wholemeal buckwheat flour.
This range from Albert Heijn includes seeded bread, rolls, mini baguettes and bread to share.
This range from Jumbo includes brown and white gluten-free bread, both in 500 g packs.
The gluten-free range at PLUS includes seeded mini baguettes and white mini baguettes.
Jumbo describes a dark wholemeal sourdough bread from Garbo made with, among other things, wholemeal rice flour and buckwheat flour.
Mini baguettes are listed here as an option for a dinner with individually served bread rolls. Before serving one to a guest with coeliac disease, check that the specific product is clearly labelled gluten-free on the packaging.
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Mini baguettes are a bread option for individual portions at a shared dinner.
The product name says it contains 7 pieces. Check the packaging for the gluten-free label, ingredients and preparation instructions; don’t assume it contains wholegrain ingredients based on its shape.
No. You also need to prevent the bread from coming into contact with gluten during preparation or at the table. The Dutch Coeliac Society says the term gluten-free may be used for products containing less than 20 mg of gluten per kg; you should also use clean, separate utensils and dips.
Not if crumbs, knives, tongs or dips could come into contact with the gluten-free portion. Serve it separately, as the Dutch Coeliac Society recommends to prevent cross-contamination.
Not automatically: ‘seeded’ doesn’t tell you which flours have been used. Look for named wholegrain ingredients on the label and compare the fibre per 100 g. For example, Jumbo lists 20% wholemeal buckwheat flour and 14 g of fibre per 100 g for Céréal Gluten Free Lactose Free Wholemeal Bread.
No. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre says bread does not have to be made with baker’s salt. Check the ingredients list if gluten-free bread regularly replaces regular bread and iodine in your overall diet is something you need to consider.
Ask which allergens the bread contains and how it was prepared, including whether it may have come into contact with bread containing gluten. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority says that information about allergens present in unpackaged products must also be available before purchase.
