For a King’s Day breakfast with someone who has coeliac disease, choose rusks whose current packaging explicitly says ‘gluten-free’. Check the ingredients and other allergens too, and keep the rusks separate from regular rusks and any spreads that may contain crumbs when preparing and serving them. Check the product’s current availability before you buy: an old listing doesn’t guarantee that the rusks are still available to purchase.
You need rusks with an explicit gluten-free label and want to avoid contact with crumbs from regular rusks. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, even a stray bread crumb can cause symptoms in someone with coeliac disease.
You’re serving both regular and gluten-free rusks on King’s Day. Keep the packaging separate and use clean crockery and cutlery for the gluten-free rusks.
You want to buy rusks, not crackers or another substitute. So check both the current product listing and the label: the specific listings for Damhert at Albert Heijn and Jumbo Lekker Vrij at Jumbo say those products are no longer part of their online ranges.
Start by checking for a gluten-free label on the packaging. Then work out how to serve the rusks without contact with regular crumbs, and check that the rusks you’ve chosen are actually available.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Gluten-free label | Check that the rusk packaging says ‘gluten-free’ and read the ingredients list. | If someone with coeliac disease is joining us, I want to see the gluten-free label on the product itself. An estimated 50% of consumers say this reassurance is their top priority when buying. |
| Crumb contact | Keep regular rusks separate and use clean cutlery, crockery and spreads without regular crumbs. | When serving a mixed table, I want to stop crumbs getting onto the gluten-free rusks via a knife or spread; an estimated 30% of consumers give separate serving the highest priority. |
| Availability and product type | Check the current product status and make sure it’s actually rusks, not crackers or a bread alternative. | For my King’s Day shopping, I want to be able to buy rusks without relying on an old product listing. Availability and product type come first for an estimated 20% of consumers. |
The specific listings for Damhert at Albert Heijn and Jumbo Lekker Vrij at Jumbo say those products are no longer part of their online ranges.
Check the current status with your retailer before King’s Day, and have a second option with an explicit gluten-free label in reserve.
Looking for another product at the last minute takes extra time.
A label such as ‘wheat-free’ doesn’t answer the same question as ‘gluten-free’. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre also lists rye and barley as gluten-containing grains.
If someone has coeliac disease, check for an explicit gluten-free label on the current packaging. Keep the rusks away from regular crumbs when serving.
Gluten-free doesn’t mean that rusks are free from other allergens. For example, Jumbo lists egg and milk as allergens in Damhert Nutrition Glutenvrij Beschuiten Biscottes.
Ask which other allergies are relevant to your guests, and check the current ingredients and allergen information for each product.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, bakers aren’t required to use baker’s salt. So you can’t assume that a particular gluten-free rusk contains iodised salt just because it’s a rusk.
Check the ingredients on the packaging or ask the manufacturer which salt was used in those rusks.
Albert Heijn lists Schär Zwieback gluten-free rusks, 175 g, as a product for breakfast or lunch.
Damhert has specific listings for gluten-free rusks at Albert Heijn and gluten-free biscottes at Jumbo.
Jumbo Lekker Vrij is a supermarket own-brand range that includes gluten-free breakfast products.
In the EU, the label can be used under Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014 when the food, as sold to the consumer, contains no more than 20 mg/kg of gluten. If someone has coeliac disease, check that the packaging of the rusks you choose says ‘gluten-free’.
No. If someone has coeliac disease, don’t choose a product based only on a ‘wheat-free’ label; check for a gluten-free label. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre lists rye and barley, as well as wheat, as gluten-containing grains.
Use a clean plate and knife for the gluten-free rusks, and keep regular rusk crumbs away from the spreads you’ll use with them. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, even a stray bread crumb can cause symptoms in someone with coeliac disease.
Yes. Gluten-free says nothing about whether a product contains egg or milk. Jumbo lists both as allergens in Damhert Nutrition Glutenvrij Beschuiten Biscottes; check the current allergen information for each product you choose.
No, you can’t assume that. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, bakers aren’t required to use baker’s salt. For a specific type of rusk, check the ingredients on the label or ask the manufacturer which salt was used.
