Wandering down the cereal aisle and wondering “is Crispix gluten free?”
The answer is maybe. You’ll have to use your own comfort level to decide if this product is right for you.
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What is Crispix?
Crispix is a breakfast cereal made by Kellogg’s. It's got a puffed hexagonal shape with a lattice pattern on each side. Kellogg's advertises as having a crisp rice side and a crunchy corn side.
Fun fact: it was created to compete with Chex cereal!
Ingredients in Crispix cereal
Crispix contains the following ingredients: rice, milled corn, sugar, salt, molasses, brown rice syrup, baking soda, turmeric extract colour, plus added vitamins and minerals.
There are no gluten ingredients in the cereal and no gluten warnings on the product, so it technically is gluten free. However, Crispix is NOT labelled or certified as gluten free.
Crispix may not be a safe cereal for anyone on a strict gluten free diet. People who have celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, gluten intolerance or a wheat allergy should use caution when it comes to eating Crispix.
Why Crispix may not be safe for a gluten free diet
There are no gluten ingredients in Crispix, so why is it potentially not safe for people on a gluten free diet? Here are two reasons why:
- Kellogg’s manufactures a huge assortment of wheat-based cereals and does not certify that Crispix is gluten free. This means Crispix products are likely manufactured and packaged on the same lines as products that use wheat. Although there aren’t warnings on the packaging, there’s a high likelihood that cross-contamination is occurring and Crispix may contain wheat.
- Brown rice syrup can contain gluten. Traditionally, brown rice syrup has barley (which is a gluten grain) added to it. The barley malt enzymes help break down the rice starches, and unfortunately, make the brown rice syrup not suitable for anyone on a gluten free diet. Some brown rice syrups do not contain gluten, but some do.
It's important to review gluten free labelling requirements depending on where you live. There may or may not be explict requirements related to gluten free ingredient labelling and warning statements.
Be sure to check government, health regulator, or gluten free association websites for more information.
Why we don’t eat Crispix
My daughter and I both have celiac disease. We live in Canada, which has strict gluten free labelling requirements. (If you live in Canada, too, check out this website on gluten free food labelling.)
Although gluten is not listed as a source ingredient on Crispix in Canada (which means the brown rice syrup is gluten free), we still don’t eat it.
Kellogg’s does not include a gluten free statement on their packaging and they process a large amount of wheat-based products. Precautionary statements (“may contain wheat”) are voluntary by manufacturers in Canada, so Crispix is a high risk product that is just not worth it for us.
Knowing your risks, the labelling requirements in your country and reviewing the product packaging will help you make an informed decision. Do what works best for you!
A gluten free alternative to Crispix
Remember when I said Crispix was originally created to compete with Chex?
Chex is gluten free! They do have one Wheat Chex product which is not gluten free (obviously), but the remainder of them are. Bring on the Rice, Corn, Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Blueberry and Honey Nut Chex!
General Mills makes Chex and they include a gluten free label right on the product packages. This means in the US and Canada, they have to adhere to strict gluten free requirements: less than 20 ppm of gluten in the product.
Are these popular cereals gluten free?
- Are Cheerios gluten free? Cheerios should be gluten free, as they are made from oats, but they may not be safe for anyone on a strict gluten free diet. Oats are naturally gluten free, but unfortunately are highly contaminated with gluten grains during processing. Only purchase Cheerios if they are labelled gluten free by General Mills or certified as gluten free by a third party group.
- Are Corn Pops gluten free? No, Kellogg’s Corn Pops are NOT gluten free. They contain wheat starch - so they are not safe for anyone with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, gluten intolerance or wheat allergies.
- Are Rice Krispies gluten free? No, regular Kellogg’s Rice Krispies are not gluten free. They are made with barley malt extract which contains gluten. There are lots of brands of gluten free rice krispies on the market though! Check out this post to learn more (and make your own rice krispies squares!)
Other gluten free cereal brands
We like cereal a lot in this house! And my daughter and I don't miss out just because we are gluten free. Here are a few brands that we buy and love eating:
- Love Grown: Oh gosh, what haven’t we purchased from this brand?! The Original Power O’s, Chocolate Power O’s, Comet Crispies, and Sea Stars are a few of our favourites. They are all gluten free!
- Nature’s Path EnviroKidz: We always have a bag of the Leapin’ Lemurs, and Choco Chimps in the pantry. They also have frosted Amazon Flakes, Panda Puffs, and a fruity Turtle Splash cereal, too!
- Nature’s Path: same brand as EnviroKidz, but Nature's Path also makes cereals for adults. The Honey’d Corn Flakes and Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla are my favourites.
Time for a bowl of cereal, don’t you think?!
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