Gluten Free

Gluten-free Teeccino blends for gluten-sensitive people

Since Teeccino’s Company mission is to help create optimal health for our customers and our planet, it was very important for us to understand the truth about what makes a food or beverage truly gluten free. Of course, if there are no gluten-containing ingredients in a product and it has not been exposed to gluten during its manufacturing and packaging, then it is, in fact, gluten free. However, if brewed beverages contain barley, it may or may not create a reaction in gluten-sensitive people.

Teeccino certified gluten-free blends

Teeccino’s certified gluten-free Dandelion blends and several of our Mushroom Adaptogen blends and Prebiotic SuperBoost blends don’t have any barley in them, unlike Teeccino’s Mediterranean and Maya blends in which barley is a main ingredient. During manufacturing, a thorough cleaning and subsequent testing for gluten is conducted on all of the packaging equipment before packing Teeccino’s barley-free blends to ensure that no gluten contamination can occur. Our gluten-free blends are certified by Gluten Intolerance Group, the premier gluten testing organization in the US. Click here to see all of Teeccino’s certified gluten-free blends.

Teeccino's barley-containing blends

For Teeccino’s Mediterranean and Maya flavors, the question of whether brewed Teeccino contains gluten from the barley is more complicated. We went to the top gluten-testing laboratory in the country, The University of Nebraska, to have the most sensitive gluten-detecting test performed on brewed Teeccino.

The FDA has set a threshold of no more that 20 parts per million of gluten in a food or drink that is marketed as gluten-free. The University of Nebraska is able to test down to the level of 5 parts per million, the lowest testable level at which gluten can be detected. The test results showed no detectable gluten in brewed Teeccino containing barley.

Susan Hefle, Ph.D., who was the co-director of the Food Allergy and Resource Program at the University of Nebraska, wrote the following opinion: “It is my expert opinion that since glutens are alcohol-soluble, an aqueous solution, such as brewed tea, should not contain gluten even if the source material that was brewed did contain gluten.” Read her entire letter here.

However, it is possible that some gluten-sensitive people will still have a reaction to Teeccino’s barley-containing blends. There could be fractions of gluten present in the brewed liquid from those blends. Although we have some Teeccino drinkers with celiac disease that report they drink our barley-containing blends without a problem, we have others who can’t do so without suffering a reaction.

We caution anyone with gluten-sensitivity to be careful when drinking Teeccino’s barley-containing blends and to watch for symptoms associated with their own tolerance or lack of tolerance.

Follow this brewing tip if you are gluten sensitive:

For gluten sensitive customers, we highly recommend using a paper filter in a drip coffee maker to brew Teeccino blends that contain barley so that no Teeccino grounds can leak into the brewed liquid. Ingesting small particles of barley in Teeccino could cause a reaction due to sensitivity to gluten. Alternatively, you could drink Teeccino’s barley-containing blends in tea bags. Tea bag paper and coffee paper filters are the best means of preventing grounds from going through the filter during brewing.

If you believe you are reacting to gluten in our barley-containing blends and want to avoid them, it is easy to sort for our certified gluten-free blends by using the Dietary Needs filter on the Shop page. Click here to see all of Teeccino’s certified gluten-free blends.