If you are on a gluten-free diet, note that usually soy sauce that is not labeled gluten-free contains wheat. In some countries outside the United States, it may contain barley. While there are gluten-free brands of soy sauce on the market, including tamari sauce, you should know what to expect if you accidentally ingest some glutenous soy sauce.
There are two different methods of making soy sauce. The one used in making the most flavorful soy sauce is fermentation. The other process is chemical hydrolysis, where 3-MCPD occurs, which is a known carcinogenic (cancer-causing agent). Once processed, molasses or caramel color is added to make it darker in color.
In a soy sauce study, 22 brands of gluten-containing soy sauce were tested for gluten content from grocery stores and Asian markets using the R5 sandwich assay test or the R5 competitive ELISA test. All of the soy sauces tested with the R5 sandwich assay proved to be negative for gluten content. The ones tested using the R5 competitive ELISA test showed that 21 contained less than 20 parts per million (ppm) gluten and the other contained 22.8 ppm.
The United States limit of gluten in a gluten-free product may contain less than 20 ppm. If you do accidentally consume soy sauce, realize that if little is used in the recipe, it is most likely that you will not have a gluten reaction from the soy sauce, unless you are extremely sensitive to gluten. Also, if a small amount is used in what you consume, that amount compared to the volume of the food item brings the ppm down even further.
I am not suggesting to anyone that is gluten intolerant or on a gluten free diet to start consuming gluten-containing soy sauce. Just note that if you should accidentally ingest some, and you may have a reaction to it. The reaction could be due to you being hyper-sensitive to gluten, from the chemical hydrolysis process, or the testing of soy sauce is inaccurate. Some people are even sensitive to fermented products in general.
The FDA plans on releasing separate gluten-free labeling laws on fermented and hydrolized food.
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My kids have very severe gluten allergy. I also use Choseon soy sauce (조선 간장, brand name Sampyo) which is Korean soy sauce which has no wheat ingredient. It is our traditional way to make soy sauce and it is also gluten free.
If you do end up ingesting gluten L-Glutamine supplements decrease the inflammation. Any time I ingest gluten and start to become in pain, I use this and I feel better within the next day. Worth checking out!
So nice post! In Sweden the health authorities has come to the same conclusion (without going into details) that most soy sauces with wheat flour in the declaration contains less than 20 ppm That makes me wonder why many people are writing about south east Asia (or Asia in general) as a a hard destination to travel gluten free cause of the abundant use of soy sauce.
pro tip I just made up:Drink plenty of water with food containing soy sauce to further dilute it :)
This is such an informative post and comment section! Thank you for pulling together some sources and evidence-based information. A lot of the information I find when I google "eating soy sauce while gluten intolerant/sensitive" are just gluten free soy sauce recommendations or recipes to imitate the taste of soy sauce. Your post was the first one that actually answered my question of the likelihood of a reaction if accidentally consuming soy sauce. Thank you, Carla!
Was this 20ppm per teaspoon, tablespoon, cup?
Maggie,
For every 1,000,000 particles or parts, there are 20 parts allowed of gluten, per the FDA.
I hope this helps.
Carla
Gluten Flam, made by Apex Energetics will negate the effects of a small amount of gluten, as in soy sauce. It has digestive enzymes specific to gluten. I take it with me anytime I eat out in Asian restaurants in case I accidentally have some. For me it has bee very effective.
I got gluten poisoning from soy sauce I was told was gluten free. I could not touch solid food or stand up straight for almost all of 4 months and previously ( off of a millimeter of fake crab meat) it was 9 months of my stomach so swollen I looked like I was 8 months pregnant and I was in extreme pain the whole time. Needless to say this is devastating and causes intense pain, severe malnourishment, missed auditions and lost jobs . The only reason the last time was 4 months is because I did extreme and expensive things try to heal it. Now, I think it’s happened again, but this time I saved the suspected soy sauce culprit. How can I have this tested? I’m out for blood this time! Please, I would truly love a response!!! I’m sick of being assured something is gluten free, being shown the bottle and still having them give me the stuff containing gluten even after I tell them the consequences are deadly!!!
Carrie,
That’s terrible! Thank you for sharing your story.
Just Foogle “Gluten test kit”. You’ll find many choices.
Carla
How about Tamari sauce? I use it instead of soy sauce and I haven't had any reactions to that. Seems to be a very good replacement.
Ramona,
I use San-J Reduced-Sodium Tamari sauce all of the time! It's labeled gluten-free.
Carla
avoid it!! my rash came out after 2 packets of soy mixed in with rice....