I can never seem to remember which grains and flours are gluten-free, which is a problem when I’m planning a meal for friends with gluten sensitivities. The BROWS acronym offers an easy way to remember.
Wheat grains image from Shutterstock
Here it is, thanks to Food52:
B arley
R ye
O at (if it’s not labelled gluten-free)
W heat (includes Kamut, khorasan, einkorn and farro)
S pelt (which is a species of wheat)And since triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye (both of which are in the acronym), it, too, contains gluten (though does not fit into the word as nicely).
People with Coeliac disease or who are gluten intolerant could probably tell you themselves what they can and can’t eat, but the BROWS acronym is a simple shortcut to knowing what definitely shouldn’t be on the menu. (Gluten-Free Living has more thorough guidelines.)
An Easy Way to Remember Which Grains Contain Gluten [Food52]
Comments
5 responses to “Remember Which Grains Contain Gluten With The BROWS Acronym”
Formatting seemed to get all messed up there, the font is tiny at the end.
Considering how low the rates of Coeliac disease are you’d probably go your whole life without having to prepare a meal for one and ‘gluten sensitivity’ seems to be overwhelmingly self-diagnosed rubbish. I have sincere sympathy for actual Coeliacs but people jumping a on trend are jerks who should thank their lucky stars they don’t suffer from the problem.
You’d be surprised. I have 2 good friends who are coeliacs, my ex used to be gluten intolerant (stomach used to swell to the point people would ask her when she was due), and someone I’ve started seeing is fructose intolerant which virtually requires she follow gluten free.
If true, your experience would be an outlier.
I have only ever met 1 celiac that I know off so far. True it is trendy and the in thing but in doing so it has opened up a whole lot more of food options for people with celiac disease .
We call these people lifestylers.