Last week I was walking through the cosmetics aisle of my local pharmacy and noticed a hair product with a gluten free label. It isn’t surprising to find gluten hiding in unexpected food products, but had you ever thought to check your toothpaste, hand cream, sunscreen, shampoo, make-up or lip-chap?

My makeup bag is the last place I expected to find gluten. For those with celiac disease, ingesting even a few particles of gluten can cause an allergic reaction that permanently damages their intestinal tract. To learn more about the different between celiac disease and gluten intolerance check out the blog post on the gluten free diet. So should those who are celiac be concerned about rubbing gluten on their arms, scalp, or face?

Safe Beauty Products for those with Celiac Disease

Skin Products

Don’t be too worried yet, as exposing your skin to gluten is not a concern, because the gluten protein is too large to be absorbed through the skin. However, according to the celiac association products containing gluten should not be used on skin lesions, as the gluten protein can be absorbed through your open wound, and can cause a reaction.

If your skin is healthy, there is no need to be concerned about sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, perfume, and shaving cream with gluten. Hair products like the one below, market their product as gluten free to try to capitalize on the gluten trend as a way to attract customers, but unless you plan to eat your hair products you’re safe!

NOTE: If you find that a cosmetic is causing irritation, it is recommended to see your doctor or dermatologist to identify the cause.

Products that May be Ingested

The Canadian Celiac Association does recommend that products that go in or near your mouth (lip products, toothpaste and mouth wash) should be avoided if they contain even the tiniest amount of gluten.

Hand lotion has been considered one of those in-between cases. If a lot of lotion is applied, and hands are not washed before eating, then theoretically some hand lotion could be ingested. But that’s nothing a little hand hygiene can’t prevent, right? If you are caring for a child with celiac disease, you may also want to be particularly cautious of products used on their hands, as they could be ingested if the child puts their hand in their mouth.

An article recently published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics tested the amount of gluten in four lip products that were made with gluten-containing ingredients. This experiment found that the four lip products had below quantifiable levels of gluten.

Health Canada allows products to be certified gluten free if they contain less than 20 ppm (parts per million) of gluten. The tested lip products all contained less than 10 ppm of gluten. They explain that a lipstick typically weights 3.8 grams, with less than 10 ppm of gluten even if the entire tube was ingested, it would be less than 0.038 mg of gluten. These findings suggest that there is likely little risk with using gluten containing lip products.

However, because the study was small, they recommend that a larger, formal study be conducted to confirm the safety.

The Bottom Line

If you are sensitive to gluten, I don’t see any reason to avoid these products. However, if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease I would recommend avoiding products that could possibly be ingested (lip products, hand lotion, toothpaste and mouth wash) until further research is done.

What to Look for on your Cosmetics’ Ingredient Label?

The labeling of gluten on cosmetic products is not nearly as regulated as it is in food. The Food and Drug Act (FDA) does not require cosmetic companies to declare gluten on their labels. Therefore, it is up to you as the consumer to look carefully at ingredients lists and contact the manufacture to determine if a product is safe. Below is a chart of words to watch for!

Grains	Words to Watch For	Sample Ingredients
Oats	Avena, Oats	Avena sativa flour Avena sativa protein Avena sativa starch Colloidal oatmeal Sodium stearoyl oat protein
Barley	Hordeum, Barley	Barley Extract Barley Seed Flour Hordeum distichon extract Hordeum vulgare Hordeum vulgare flour Hordeum vulgare juice Hordeum vulgare root extract Hordeum vulgare wax
Rye	Secale	Secale cereale extract Secale cereale flour
Various Grains	Gliadin, Grain	Gliadin Spent Grain Flour
Wheat	Triticum, Wheat	Hydrolyzed wheat glutenHydrolyzed wheat proteinHydrolyzed wheat starch Sodium lauroyl wheat amino acids Triticum vulgare bran Triticum vulgare germ oil or flour or extract Triticum vulgare gluten or protein Wheat amino acids Wheat germ acid Wheat germ glycerides

Here is an article by the Canadian Celiac Association on Cosmetic Label Reading, where we took this chart. http://www.celiac.ca/?page_id=1487

 

Much love and good eating,

Stephanie and The Team