Food Safety Tips: Singapore Gluten Awareness and Labeling

Note: Our posts may contain affiliate links. For example, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase something through those links, you won't be charged extra, but we'll receive a small commission. All opinions expressed herein are our own, and we will only recommend products, services, and restaurants that we have personally tested and found to meet our quality standards.

---

Table of Contents

• Grocery Shopping Tips: Food Labeling

• Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffle Sample

• Restaurant Safety Tips: Advocating For Your Needs

---

Singapore’s multiculturalism provides a unique opportunity for celiacs to experience a wide variety of cuisines all in one place, as long as you know the right things to look out for. Here are some important gluten safety tips to help you stay safe in Singapore:

Grocery Shopping Tips: Food Labeling

The Singapore Food Agency requires food labels declare any “cereals containing gluten,” which includes oats, either within the ingredient list itself or within a contains statement. In the case of compound ingredients or individual ingredients derived from gluten sources, gluten ingredients will be listed in parentheses (an improvement over U.S. labeling, since in Singapore gluten-derived sources would need to be labeled in the case of possible "hidden" gluten like natural flavoring or food starch). However, labels don’t have to use the catch-all term “gluten;” instead, the only requirement is that each individual ingredient be listed, so you need to know all of the potential sources of gluten, i.e. barley, rye, wheat, etc. Unlike in the U.S., “may contain” statements for potential cross contact are discouraged so as not to “unnecessarily restrict consumer choice and undermine valid warnings.” 

A lot of items in Singapore’s grocery stores are imported. Items imported from non-English speaking countries are required to have an additional sticker showing the ingredients in English, which we found very helpful. Among the celiacs we’ve talked to, some find it easiest to mainly purchase items imported from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand due to clearer allergen labeling. Personally, we gravitate towards items labeled for sale in the U.K. or Australia because all allergens are bolded on their labels, including gluten.

Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffle Sample

In each country's Food Safety Tips guide, we include a LINDOR truffle test to illustrate how allergen labeling differs country to country (you can read more about this test and compare additional countries here; we also share some great gluten-free truffle alternatives there). Here are two examples of Singapore Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles:

As a country that imports a lot of products, Singapore's food labeling can vary, even on the exact same product. For example, on both labels above, you'll see "barley malt extract," but there are differences in how they approach its labeling. On the first, notice there is no bolding of allergens and no use of the term gluten on the packaging. Whereas on the second label, while still not bolded,"gluten" is put in parentheses next to the allergen to make it extra clear. Furthermore, neither of these examples show the common UK or Australian import labeling style, which would have bolded allergens.

Restaurant Safety Tips: Advocating For Your Needs

While Singapore is more aware of allergies than many other countries in Asia, partially due to its diversity and unique immigrant history, awareness of celiac — and other diseases that have to be strict with cross contact in their avoidance of gluten — is not a given. Do not automatically expect the average grocery or restaurant employee to be aware of celiac-safe food prep and handling, or in many cases, what gluten is. 

We highly recommend thoroughly researching each restaurant’s celiac awareness and cross-contact prevention precautions before eating anywhere. This includes pre-visit research through this website and/or an app like Find Me Gluten Free (get $5 off FMGF Premium here), asking the right questions of servers, and considering using an allergy card like those from EqualEats (get 10% off with coupon code CELIACBYTHEBAY) to ensure you’re safe. 

The Gluten Free Singapore - Support Group Facebook group is also an extremely helpful resource — well moderated and highly engaged, the leader of the group also sells her own gluten-free Singapore guide if you’re interested in additional support from a local. 

Perhaps the most important thing to remember in many Asian countries: regular soy sauce is not gluten-free! When available, ask for gluten-free soy sauce or gluten-free tamari as a replacement (some tamaris still have gluten added, so always double-check labels).

When all else fails, another backup option is to ask for a bowl of plain white rice. Since it’s cooked in bulk at most places, it should have low risk of cross contact. To spice it up, bring your own gluten-free soy sauce (found at many U.S. supermarkets and Asian grocery stores) and gluten-free furikake (Trader Joe’s has a great one); we pack both in our checked luggage as a backup, as it’s harder to find the gluten-free versions of these items at Hong Kong grocery stores.

If at any time within these steps you don’t trust that a restaurant has the knowledge to keep you safe, don’t be afraid to leave and find somewhere else to eat. Trust your (sensitive) gut — better to be safe than risk ruining your trip and health! 

Looking for our full gluten-free guide to Singapore? Click here.