Food Safety Tips: Hong Kong Gluten Awareness and Labeling
- celiacbythebay
- Mar 25, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 13
Gluten labeling and awareness is on the upswing in Hong Kong, but it’s still challenging for celiacs. Huge plus for this bilingual country: almost everything is in English too, so you won't have to add that challenge to your label reading! As you plan your visit, here’s some important gluten safety tips to help you stay safe in Hong Kong.
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Grocery Shopping Tips: Food Labeling
Hong Kong is a hodgepodge of imports, and although official laws require the labeling of "cereals containing gluten," we've found it inconsistently applied. For example, items imported from Asian countries (Taiwan, Japan, China, etc.) usually have an additional sticker showing the ingredients in English, but they don't always call out gluten. On the other hand, items labeled for sale in the UK (allergens are bolded) or Australia (allergens are bolded and they call out gluten explicitly, see above picture) have excellent gluten labeling.
So although some countries' imports may have clearer labeling than others, Hong Kong as a whole does not require bolding of allergens or inclusion of gluten in a "contains" statement. As such, you'll need to default to carefully reading each individual ingredient on labels to prevent getting sick. In particular, be careful with dairy-free milk alternatives that may run into cross-contact in the manufacturing process or have a gluten ingredient added within.
But before you get too stressed, there is one particularly positive aspect of Hong Kong labeling that our U.S. readers will be extra excited about: a requirement to detail what's included in flavorings. While not followed 100% of the time, when applied, it is much easier to confirm the celiac safety of this common hidden source of gluten! You can see some examples in the pictures below.
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; bonus: we've included some great gluten-free truffle replacements there too). Below is an example of a Hong Kong Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffle:
On the label, you'll see "barley malt extract" — notice there is no bolding or inclusion of this allergen in the "contains" statement — and "artificial flavorings,"whose specifics are helpfully listed in parentheses so that potential flavoring allergens can be more easily identified.
Restaurant Safety Tips: Advocating For Your Needs
Hong Kong is still in the early stages regarding awareness of celiac and other diseases that have to be strict with cross contact in their avoidance of gluten, but it’s gradually improving. Nonetheless, do not 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 found there to be much more awareness of keto, though. That’s a good place to start, but you’ll still need to be diligent, given not all keto products are gluten-free.
We also highly recommend thoroughly researching each restaurant’s celiac awareness and cross-contact 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 (especially helpful to ease language barriers).
Perhaps the most important thing to remember in Asia: regular soy sauce is not gluten-free! A staple in Hong Kong dishes, soy sauce will likely be your biggest ingredient challenge to overcome for gluten-free eats. 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 (or in our case, when family obligations put you in a random restaurant), 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.
As always, if at any time within these steps you don’t trust the 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!
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