Does chicken broth contain gluten, milk, soy? Yes.
Posted on January 8th, 2009 by alison
Over the holidays I was at a friend’s house, snooping in the pantry, when I decided to pick up a can of that good old-fashioned red-labeled Campbell’s Chicken Broth. I knew it was not gluten-free, but I couldn’t remember the exact details, so I turned it over to read the ingredients.
Yuck. How could anyone a) eat it, and b) think it is in any way close to real chicken broth? I’m not sure what put me off the most: the hydrolyzed wheat gluten, the monosodium glutamate (MSG), the corn oil, or the hydrolyzed soy and corn protein. Mmmm… just like homemade!
And so I began my own little research project on commercial chicken broth, stock and bouillon. I discovered a few things:
- some brands of chicken broths have gluten, milk and/or soy, and some don’t
- even within one brand, some products have allergens and some don’t
- different sizes of the same product can have different ingredients - Safeway brand actually had 3 different sets of ingredients for 3 different sizes of the same product!
Unfortunately, many restaurants use packaged “chicken bases” to make stock or broth for soups, sauces and gravies, so you have to be really careful when eating out.
Here is a list of some major brands and ingredient information (and sometimes my opinion too), as of 1/06/09. Remember, ingredients can change at any time, so always check. If you have another brand you would like to list, please do so in the comments. A ** denotes brands I highly recommend.
BETTER THAN BOUILLON
Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
- gluten-free, contains dairy and soy.
CAMPBELL’S
Campbell’s Chicken Broth 14 oz. can
- contains wheat and soy, plus the addition of MSG and corn oil
COLLEGE INN
College Inn Chicken Broth 99% Fat Free, all sizes
- contains wheat gluten protein and soybean oil, and MSG
College Inn Chicken Broth Light and Fat Free 50% Less Sodium, all sizes
- contains wheat gluten protein and soybean oil, and MSG
College Inn Flavored Chicken Broths, all sizes
- contains wheat gluten protein and soybean oil, and MSG
College Inn Turkey Broth, 18.5 oz. can
- contains wheat, soy, egg and milk
HERB OX
Herb Ox Sodium Free Chicken Granulated Bouillon
- gluten-free, dairy-free
Herb Ox Chicken Instant Bouillon and Seasoning
- gluten-free, contains dairy
IMAGINE FOODS**
Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, Organic Low Sodium Free Range Chicken Broth, Organic Chicken Cooking Stock
- gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, all natural ingredients
KITCHEN BASICS**
Kitchen Basics Chicken Broth, 32 oz. box
- gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, ingredients are all natural
KNORR (this is a brand used in the foodservice industry)
Knorr Chicken Select Base (dry base)
- contains soy and milk, MSG
Knorr Chicken No MSG Added (dry base)
- contains wheat and soy
Knorr Ultimate Chicken Base no MSG, Roasted Chicken, and Low Sodium
- contains wheat and soy
Knorr Ultimate Gourmet Edge Chicken Base
- contains milk
Knorr Chicken Bouillon
- gluten-free, dairy free, contains MSG
MINOR’S (this is a brand used in the foodservice industry)
Minor’s Chicken Base
- contains wheat gluten, soy, milk, MSG
Minor’s All Natural Chicken Base
- gluten-free, contains milk
Minor’s Chicken Base no added MSG, and Low Sodium no added MSG
- contains wheat, soy, milk
Minor’s Chicken Broth Concentrate
- contains wheat
Minor’s Roasted Chicken Broth Concentrate
- contains wheat and soy
PACIFIC FOODS**
Pacific Foods Natural Free Range Chicken Broth, Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth, Organic Free Range Chicken Broth
- gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, all natural ingredients
- see Special Diet Reference for all their products
PROGRESSO
Progresso 100% Natural Chicken Broth and Reduced Sodium, 32 oz. box
- gluten-free, dairy-free
SWANSON
Swanson’s Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, 32 oz. box
- contains organic yeast extract, which according to the label contains wheat
Swanson’s Chicken Broth 99% Fat Free, 14 oz. can
- gluten-free and dairy-free, but there is a lot of crap in it, including soy lecithin
Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth 100% Fat Free Less Sodium, 48 oz. box or 49 oz. can
- gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free, not as much other stuff in it
Swanson’s Chicken Cooking Stock, 26 oz. broth
- gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free, more natural ingredients that other Swanson’s
SAFEWAY
Safeway Chicken Broth
- contains soy protein, MSG
Safeway Chicken Broth Fat Free Reduced Sodium, various sizes
- 49.5 oz. can contains soy protein, 14 oz. can and 32 oz. box don’t
O Brand Organic Chicken Broth, 32 oz. box
- gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, more natural ingredients than Safeway brand
TRADER JOE’S
Trader Joe’s Chicken Broth
- contains gluten (barley malt)
Trader Joe’s Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- gluten-free
This is GREAT information. Thank you for collecting all this information. I am concerned about MSG (in addition to certain food allergens) and I’m probably going to read this post a few times and then try some new brands. Thanks again!
I can totally understand your frustration with this — first finding something that is gluten-free is hard enough, but then finding mainstream items that are free from MSG adds to the frustration. I don’t have specific items to share, but I’ve had a lot of luck finding some better items at Whole Foods and my local store New Seasons Market (in Portland, OR). Everytime I look at a mainstream product, I stare in horror and wonder why consumers put up with this — it’s really not necessary.
In so many ways, I’m grateful to have celiac disease as it has educated me and helped me understand what is in my food and what I am putting in my body.
Just to make things more complicated, the ORGANIC Better than Bouillon chicken base is gluten, dairy, and soy free. I believe that there is a difference between the organic and non-organic versions of their beef base too.
Today I’m making Black-Eyed Pea Soup using Pacific organic free range chicken broth. I see that’s one of your ** favs. Mine too AND I can get a case at Costco. Plus, I like to think that the chickens are happy before they go in my soup.
Here’s the recipe I’m using, in case your interested in the soup. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/12/crockpot-black-eyed-pea-soup.html
Shelton’s makes a gluten free chicken broth…not on this list and not sure if it is well known?
As a celiac patient, I had to do reasearch also, and found that Kitchen Basics to be absolutely the best broths I’ve tried. They can be used to make soup, gravies, and anything else you can think of. The taste is terrific in both the chicken and beef broths. They are actually stocks, and save a lot of time in making soups.
I am not able to get the Knorr Gourmet Chicken form Cosco any longer and would like to get it . Is there a phone no I could call to order it?
Having a terrible time to find Trader Joe’s Organic Free-Range chicken broth. Does anyone know who makes this for them? My family need GF products and we’re “hooked” on this for soups ect. Help is needed please!!!!!!
Thank you. Vic Maurais Gardner, MA
But Shelton’s turkey broth has milk in it, I think. Something we are allergic to anyway. And yes, the Better Than Boullion Beef (organic) is GF and dairy free as well.
Thanks for doing the work for us!
Pacific broth is cross contaminated as well as all Trader Joes products according to Triump Dining grocery guide. They are the only one that talk about cross contamination.
First, many many thanks for saving us all the legwork on this research. It’s made my adaptation to a non-dairy, non-soy diet much easier.
One update to the list. The Progresso 100% Natural Chicken Broth Low Sodium (33% less than our regular product) is gluten free, dairy free and SOY FREE. This was verified today through Progresso’s #800.
Wow, this is such useful information. Thank you so much for letting others know about this.
This is very helpful. Do you know whether the McCormick chicken and beef bases are dairy free? These products are now being carried at Costco. I’ve been unable to find the answer on McCormick’s website or elsewhere. Thanks.
Hi Jo,
On the McCormick website, they say:
“All of our single ingredient spices and herbs are gluten-free and 100% pure, with nothing added to them. All of our extracts, including Pure Vanilla, are also gluten-free. Some of our products do contain gluten, and this will be clearly listed in BOLD type within the ingredient statement. We do not maintain a list of gluten-free products, as our formulas change from time to time.”
So, if you check the ingredients, it sounds like it would be clearly listed.
On the chicken base, I see the ingredients to be:
Ingredients: cooked chicken and mechanically separated chicken meat, salt, sugar, maltodextrin, chicken fat, flavor [autolyzed yeast, salt, maltodextrin, lactic acid powder (lactic acid, calcium lactate), flavorings, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate], dehydrated onion, turmeric, natural flavorings.
Looks okay for gluten since it is not clearly listed.