In a recent case of kamaboko, I wondered why it was listed as Contains Wheat even though nothing that looked like wheat or oats was listed as an ingredient, so I looked it up in a book about celiac disease and gluten. Then I found a number of unfamiliar names of ingredients that contain gluten, even though they are not directly referred to as wheat or oats.
Many were wheat grown since ancient times, called ancient grains and ancient wheat. To increase yields, breeding has been done to create modern wheat that yields twice as much, but ancient wheat is still used in foods today.
Ingredients containing gluten, even if not labeled as wheat (alphabetical order)
Bulgur – A type of dried ground wheat. Common in the Mediterranean, Middle East and India.
Couscous
Dextrin – Mostly made from corn, but sometimes from wheat.
Dinkle -Ancient wheat from the German Dinkel.
Durum (Durum wheat)
Einkorn -A type of ancient wheat.
Emmer (Emmer wheat)
Farina (Farina flour)
Graham flour
Kamut – A type of ancient wheat.
Matzo – A yeastless, cracker-like bread eaten in Jewish food culture.
Seitan – Gluten meat substitute for meat.
Semolina – Coarsely ground durum wheat flour.
Spelt – A type of ancient wheat.
Triticale – A modern variety of rye wheat (a cross between rye and wheat).
I re-read the ingredients again for the kamaboko, and there was Dextrin! So I should be careful even if it does not say “wheat flour” on the label.