A diagnosis of celiac disease can be a very overwhelming one, especially for the person who is in charge of the household cooking.  With grocery stores filled to the brim with processed foods that have ingredients that you cannot pronounce let alone recognize, how does one know what is safe and what is not?

Many ingredients, such as vinegar and flavorings have gluten hidden in them, and part of your task as a celiac patient or caretaker to someone with celiac disease is to be able to identify each one of these ingredients and know if they are safe or not.
Your first step is to identify the most obvious ingredients that you know you will need to avoid; these are gluten, wheat, barley, rye, spelt, beer, anything with malt in the name, and any type of soy or teriyaki sauce.  Other common ingredient that may contain gluten, but are not so obvious are many types of starch such as modified food, or vegetable starches, most types of flavorings even those that say natural, cook sprays, spices and bouillon cubes. As you can see the list is long, so your best bet is to do a search of the internet, there are many reliable lists you can find there you can print out.  When you head to the store, take the list with you, so you if you see an ingredient you are not sure about, you can check your list.
Cross contamination is another issue you should be concerned with, many products such as corn, oats, and nuts will be processed in the same factory or on the same equipment as the offending gluten products. For many celiac individuals this cross contamination is enough to make them very ill. Be on the lookout for labels that say “processed in a plant that also processes wheat “or “may contain trace amounts of wheat” you should definitely avoid these products. Purchase oats and corn products that are clearly labeled gluten free, to be sure they are not cross contaminated; these can be purchased in your health food store.
Do not count on the food manufacturer for correct labeling, while many products will say whether they contain gluten or are processed in a factory where there is gluten, not all do, and many are not aware that a flavoring or spice they have added may have gluten in it. While you can trust a label that says gluten free, anything else is suspect and the label should be carefully read. Careful label reading will prevent mishaps, and keep you much healthier over the long run.