Is cornstarch gluten-free?

Hydrocyclones during the corn starch making line

Is cornstarch gluten-free?

Cornstarch is naturally gluten free.

Corn is naturally gluten free. It is gluten free because it is not wheat, barley or rye. In a world without wheat, barley or rye, corn would always be gluten free. That’s not to say that everyone will choose to eat corn or cornstarch. They may avoid it because of it’s impact on their blood sugar levels, or because they have an intolerance or allergy to corn, or because they only eat non-GMO corn. However, corn in its unadulterate natural state is gluten free.

Not all cornstarch is gluten free.

I’m somewhat picky about cornstarch. Although corn is inherently gluten free, I do not trust that corn starch is gluten free by the time it gets to the supermarket shelves.

Is that distrust well-founded? I don’t know. Some companies like Clabber Girl make several brands of cornstarch; their Clabber Girl cornstarch is labeled gluten free, their Rumford cornstarch is not. I’d rather not worry about contamination, so I only use cornstarch that carries a gluten free label. If it’s certified to be gluten free, that’s even better.

It depends on the brand. Pure cornstarch is made from corn kernels, which do not contain the gluten protein that causes problems in people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Therefore, pure cornstarch is gluten-free. But not all brands meet the level of purity you need when gluten — even a tiny bit of gluten — makes you sick.

You need to consider whether the cornstarch you're buying has been manufactured in a way that avoids potential sources of gluten cross-contamination.

Unfortunately, many of the brands on the market are made in shared facilities or on equipment shared with wheat products, and so they aren't considered gluten-free.