Is carob gum gluten free

Answer 1

Carob powder is created by grinding the pods of the Carob tree which is found in the Mediterranean region of the world. It is inherently gluten-free. However, as with all powdered substances, wheat flour can be added to the carob powder as an "anti-caking" agent. The flour does NOT have to be listed in the ingredients according to US law since, as defined by the FDA, flour (and the gluten found in it) is "generally recognized as safe". This standard is know as GRAS and it is bad news for celiacs.

When the seeds of the carob pod are ground up, it is called carob bean gum, or locust bean gum.

For those who are gluten sensitive, it is important to make sure that the carob powder or the carob treat that you bought did not have gluten added to it during processing. I have bought gluten-free carob powder and it is clumpy, like granulated sugar on a humid day. Companies such as Chatfields provides carob powder that is not clumpy at all. They also indicate on their web site that they cannot guarantee that trace amounts of gluten did not get into the carob powder during processing. So I stay away from Chatfields.

There is a study "Physiochemical studies of caroubin: a gluten-like protein" from J Agric Food Chem (2001) that mentions both caroubin (a protein found in carob powder) and gluten have the same "rheological" properties, but that just means that they have the same viscosity in solution.

You should not get a gluten reaction eating carob powder that is processed in a gluten-free facility, or if you get the pods and grind them up yourself :-).