If you have coeliac disease, choose bread clearly labelled ‘gluten-free’, and check the pea soup and serving arrangements for gluten and cross-contamination too. Then choose sliced bread if you want to serve it straight away, rolls to bake if you’d like warm bread, or a gluten-free mix if you want to bake your own. Whatever you choose, compare the allergen information, storage instructions and nutritional details on the packaging.
For them, it’s not just the bread label that matters: the soup and serving utensils must also be kept free from gluten from other foods. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre warns that even a stray bread crumb can be a problem for someone with coeliac disease.
If you want to bake rolls to serve with soup, bear in mind that they need to be oven-baked. Follow the storage and defrosting instructions on the packaging.
Once you’ve found a gluten-free option, ingredients, other allergens, fibre, salt and whether iodised salt is listed can help you choose between products.
If you have coeliac disease, first check the bread, soup and serving arrangements for gluten. Then choose a format that suits your meal, and compare the other information on the labels afterwards.
| What to look for | What to check when buying | Who it matters most to |
|---|---|---|
| Gluten and cross-contamination | Look for the words ‘gluten-free’. Check the soup label too, and use clean serving utensils. | If I have coeliac disease, I want to make sure the bread, soup and serving arrangements all stay gluten-free. For around 50% of shoppers, checking for gluten comes first. |
| Serving format | Check whether the bread is ready to serve or needs baking. For frozen rolls, follow the defrosting and storage instructions. | With pea soup, I want to choose between grabbing a slice of bread quickly and taking the time to serve warm rolls. For around 30% of shoppers, the serving format is the deciding factor. |
| Nutritional information | Compare fibre and salt per 100 g, and check the ingredients list if iodised salt is relevant to your choice. | When several breads meet my gluten-free requirements, I want to know how their nutritional information and ingredients differ. Around 20% of shoppers prioritise comparing labels. |
Multigrain bread may contain wheat, rye or barley. So the name alone doesn’t tell you whether someone with coeliac disease can eat it.
First, look for an explicit gluten-free claim. Under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, this claim can only be used if the food contains no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten for the final consumer.
Pea soup may contain gluten too. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre also says that even a crumb of ordinary bread can be a problem for someone with coeliac disease.
Check the soup and any toppings separately. Keep knives, bread baskets and serving boards free from crumbs of ordinary bread.
The gluten-free breads described also list soya and the possible presence of other allergens. So a gluten-free label doesn’t answer every question about allergens.
If you have other food allergies, check the full allergen information on the current packaging too.
‘Gluten-free’, ‘multigrain’ and ‘multiseed’ don’t tell you which type of salt has been used in a particular product.
If iodised salt is relevant to your choice, look for it in the ingredients list on the packaging.
The gluten-free options described are sliced multigrain bread and frozen multigrain rolls to bake at home.
The multiseed bread described is a ready-to-eat gluten-free option with nuts and seeds.
The gluten-free multigrain bread mix described is for anyone who wants to bake bread at home.
No. Multigrain bread may contain wheat, rye or barley. If you have coeliac disease, choose bread with an explicit gluten-free claim and check the label.
Under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, ‘gluten-free’ can only appear on a food if it contains no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten for the final consumer. The claim says nothing about whether the pea soup you serve with it is gluten-free.
No. Check the ingredients in the soup and any toppings too. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre also warns that crumbs from ordinary bread can cause cross-contamination for someone with coeliac disease, so make sure the serving utensils are clean as well.
You can’t tell from ‘gluten-free’ or ‘multigrain’. If iodised salt is relevant to your choice, check the ingredients list on the bread you’re buying.
