Is Oatmeal Gluten-Free?

Oatmeal lovers who are gluten-sensitive or have celiac must ensure their oats are pure and made in a gluten-free facility. Pure oats and pure oatmeal do not contain gluten. However, many oatmeal brands today are not pure; they contain oats cross-contaminated with a tiny amount of wheat, barley, or rye.

For someone with celiac disease, they are only safe if they are certified gluten-free due to the risk of cross-contamination. If you have celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, stick with brands that are certified gluten-free.

In addition, you should know that some with celiac or gluten sensitivity react to oats as well. Therefore, be careful not to overdo that oatmeal until you know precisely how you'll react. Discuss any reactions with your healthcare provider.

Is Oatmeal Gluten-Free?

Because pure oats and pure oatmeal are naturally gluten-free, you're probably wondering how gluten can get in. The problem is gluten cross-contamination begins in farmers' fields and continues through processing. Most farmers and food processors who grow and handle oats also grow and handle the gluten grains wheat, barley, and rye. Using the same equipment for oats and gluten grains means that a tiny amount of gluten winds up in your oatmeal.

It is possible to grow pure gluten-free oats, and companies selling certified gluten-free oatmeal are using oats that do not have any gluten cross-contamination. Those should be safe for most people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. However, some people will have reactions even with pure oats.

Which Brands of Oatmeal Are Gluten-Free?

Fortunately for those who can tolerate oats, there are a variety of gluten-free-certified oatmeal.

Bob's Red Mill

Bob's Red Mill produces a large variety of gluten-free oatmeal, including easy-to-prepare oatmeal cups in four flavors, quick-cooking oats, rolled oats, and steel-cut oats. Bob's tests for gluten down to 20 parts per million (PPM). Make sure you purchase only gluten-free labeled oatmeal—Bob's also has oat products that are not gluten-free.

GF Harvest

GF Harvest is a family-owned business in Wyoming. The company grows its oats and performs extensive testing to make certain its fields remain uncontaminated, including testing the seeds it uses down to 10 PPM. GF Harvest holds gluten-free certification along with organic and Kosher certifications.

Products include organic gluten-free rolled oats and regular gluten-free rolled oats, which you can use to make gluten-free oatmeal. The company also offers easy-to-prepare oatmeal cups.

Lilly B's

Glutenfreeda Foods and Lilly B's have joined to offer four types of gluten-free instant oatmeal—apple cinnamon, maple raisin, brown sugar, and natural. The first three flavors also contain flax meal in addition to gluten-free oatmeal. Find Lilly B's oatmeal in many supermarkets, including specialty stores like Sprouts and Wegmans.

Montana Gluten Free

Montana Gluten Free works directly with farmers to ensure the oats it sells are not cross-contaminated with gluten and certifies its oats test to below 3 PPM of gluten. The company offers cream of oats, "naked" oats, raw oatmeal, toasted oat flour, and oat-based baking supplies on its website.

Quaker Oats 

Are Quaker Oats gluten-free? The company sells gluten-free oatmeal in four varieties: old-fashioned oats, quick one-minute oats, instant plain oatmeal, and instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal. Find this brand in your local grocery store alongside Quaker's regular oatmeal (look for the words "Gluten Free" in bold).

Note that Quaker Oats doesn't source oats grown away from gluten grains. Instead, the company buys regular oats (which generally are cross-contaminated with gluten grains) and uses a controversial sorting technique that it says discards the gluten grains but keeps the oats.

Quaker Oats tests its products to ensure they contain less than 20 PPM of gluten (the minimum Food and Drug Administration standard). However, if you're particularly sensitive to trace gluten, consider a brand with more stringent testing standards.

Other companies that sell gluten-free products also produce oatmeal that's not certified gluten-free—be careful to double-check labels and assume a product isn't safe unless it's specifically marked as gluten-free oatmeal.

Can You Eat Oatmeal If You Have Celiac?

Can someone with celiac disease eat oats? In most cases, you can eat oats if you have celiac. However, a small percentage of those with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity also react to avenin, a protein found in oats, which means they may need to add oats to their list of prohibited grains.

Here's what experts have to say about oats.

The National Celiac Association says people with celiac disease should be cautious. They recommend anyone newly diagnosed with celiac disease avoid oats until they have their celiac completely controlled. Then, under the guidance of a physician, they can gradually add gluten-free oats. Start with 50 grams daily, more than 1/2 cup of dry rolled oats.

The Celiac Disease Foundation says pure uncontaminated oats are well-tolerated by most people with celiac disease, so long as they choose gluten-free oats for products like granola and granola bars.

Beyond Celiac urges taking "a great deal of care" with this possible addition to your diet and discussing it with your physician. They state that determining how or if you will react is impossible, so stay cautious and choose gluten-free oats only. Stick to 50 grams of dry oats daily and if you develop symptoms, talk to your dietician or doctor.

Can People with Celiac Eat All Oats?

There's evidence that certain types of oats may be less toxic to people with celiac disease than others. A Spanish study looked at how immune system components reacted to different oat varieties in people with celiac disease. That study found some oats provoked less of an immune system response than others.

An Italian study used cell samples from people with celiac disease to see how those cells reacted to different oat varieties in test tubes. The study concluded that two oat varieties—Avena genziana and Avena potenza—didn't provoke major celiac-specific immune system reactions, at least in the test tube.

However, researchers cautioned that both oat varieties did seem to cause some low-level immune system changes in the cell samples. Research on this is ongoing but it's too early to single out particular oat varieties as safer or less safe to eat.

A Word From Verywell

If you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, the only way to determine if you react to oatmeal is to try some (start with a couple of spoonfuls) in its pure, gluten-free form. There is anecdotal evidence that people more sensitive to gluten also react more frequently to oats, but there's no research to prove it.

Therefore, if you've been diagnosed with celiac disease, consult your physician and proceed cautiously when adding gluten-free oatmeal to your diet. If your celiac disease symptoms return, stop eating the oatmeal immediately.