Find out if Lay’s chips are safe for a gluten-free diet, what they’re made of, and what flavors to enjoy when you’re avoiding gluten.
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If you’re a big fan of chips, you’re probably no stranger to Lay’s brand. This popular variety of potato chips can be found in most grocery stores, convenience stores, and delis all throughout the U.S.
Whether you’re a common potato chip eater or only pull them out for summer barbecues, you may have found yourself wondering how this brand of chips fares for a gluten-free diet.
When you avoid gluten, you know you need to look at not only the food itself, but also the brand, the flavor, and any varieties individually. I’m hoping to help answer some questions about which Lay’s potato chip options are safe for a gluten-free diet in this post.
Find out what Lay’s chips are, the main ingredients, and if they’re gluten-free. Plus we’ll go over which flavors and varieties are safe for a gluten-free diet, and whether or not the most popular flavors of Lay’s chips contain gluten.
Read on: Gluten-free Chips
What are Lay’s Chips?
Lay’s is a brand of potato chips that are very popular in the United States. This brand is manufactured by the Frito-Lay Company, alongside many other chip brands, like Ruffles, Cheetos, Tostitos, and Doritos.
Lay’s chips come in both original style and their “better for you” styles, which have less sodium, less fat, or are baked. Lay’s come in a variety of flavors, like classic, BBQ, sour cream & onion, cheddar jalapeno, salt & vinegar, and Flamin’ Hot.
What are the ingredients in Lay’s Chips?
The ingredients in Lay’s classic flavor potato chips are:
“Potatoes, vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, and/or canola oil), and salt.”
The different flavors of Lay’s chips will contain other ingredients for seasonings and flavor. Sometimes these seasonings contain gluten, whether or not they are specifically called “wheat” or “gluten” on ingredients lists.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape.
You can find gluten in whole grains, but also in many processed foods as well. If you purchase wheat bread, there will be gluten in it, because wheat by nature has gluten.
Many processed foods have hidden gluten in them in the form of gluten or wheat derivatives. These are also in the form of flavorings, binders to keep ingredients together, or other additives.
Are Lay’s gluten-free?
Many flavors of Lay’s chips are gluten-free, but not all. The Frito-Lay Company has a page on their website dedicated to sharing which products are gluten-free.
When this post was first published in November of 2021, Frito Lay had two filters for gluten on their website. They had a section for the products they knew to be gluten-free and were tested to be less than 20 ppm of gluten.
They had a second section where they had products with no gluten-containing ingredients. Since then, they’ve done away with this section of their website, though I’ve kept some information in this post for reference. Note that the sections in this post with “products containing no gluten-ingredients” may be outdated now, though I’ve done my best to update them.
You can find that their most current information on allergens and gluten here.
The classic flavor of Ruffles is gluten-free and you can safely enjoy these potato chips if you’re on a gluten-free diet.
Read on: Are potato chips gluten-free?
Read on: Are potatoes gluten-free?
What flavors of Lay’s chips are gluten-free?
According to the Frito-Lay website, here is a list of their Lay’s products that are considered gluten-free.
Those listed below with a (D) are considered dairy-free according to the Frito-Lay Company. I avoid both gluten and dairy products in my diet, which is why I’ve included this information here as you might also find it useful.
- Baked BBQ Flavored Potato Crisps
- Baked Original Potato Crisps (D)
- Baked Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps
- Classic Potato Chips (D)
- Lightly Salted Potato Chips (D)
- Simply Sea Salted Thick Cut Potato Chips (D)
- Stax Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Buffalo Wings with Ranch Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Chile Limón Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Flamas Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Mesquite Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Original Potato Crisps (D)
- Stax Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps
- Wavy Lightly Salted Potato Chips (D)
- Wavy Original Potato Chips (D)
Are Lay’s BBQ chips gluten-free?
Lay’s Barbecue chips are considered both to have no gluten or dairy in this flavor of their potato chips. The original style barbecue, the Baked variety, and Stax variety in Mesquite barbecue are all considered gluten-free by the Frito-Lay Company.
Are Lay’s salt and vinegar chips gluten-free?
Lay’s Stax salt & vinegar are considered gluten-free by the Frito-Lay Company. These are also dairy-free.
Are Sour Cream & Onion Lay’s gluten-free?
Both Lay’s Baked Sour Cream & Onion and Lay’s Stax Sour Cream & Onion varieties are considered gluten-free by the Frito-Lay Company according to their website. They do contain dairy ingredients.
Are Lay’s Cheddar and Sour Cream chips gluten-free?
Lay’s Cheddar and Sour Cream chips in the Baked variety are considered gluten-free by the Lay’s brand.
Are Lay’s Limon chips gluten-free?
Lay’s Chili Limon chips are considered gluten-free by the brand, but not the plain Limon flavor.
Are Poppables gluten-free?
According to the Frito-Lay company’s website, their Poppables products aren’t considered gluten-free. In 2021, when this post was first published, Lay’s had a section on their website with products and flavors “not containing gluten ingredients.”
The flavors of Poppables that Lay’s considered to not have gluten ingredients in 2021 are listed below. Be aware that this information may have changed since then and isn’t found on the Lay’s website any longer.
These are the not-containing gluten Poppable flavors:
- LAY’S® Poppables® Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Snacks
- LAY’S® Poppables® Sea Salt Potato Snacks
- LAY’S® Poppables® Sea Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Snacks
- LAY’S® Poppables® Southwest Ranch Flavored Potato Snacks
- LAY’S® Poppables® White Cheddar Flavored Potato Snacks
Are Lay’s Sunchips gluten-free?
After reviewing the nutrition information on the Frito-Lay website, it’s clear that this brand is not gluten-free. All the varieties of Sunchips contain wheat ingredients in the form of whole wheat.
Steer clear of this brand while trying to follow a gluten-free diet.
Are Baked Lay’s gluten-free?
Baked Lay’s has three flavors that are considered gluten-free by the Frito-Lay Company: Baked BBQ, Baked Original, and Baked Sour Cream & Onion.
Are Lay’s Layers gluten-free?
The Frito-Lay company doesn’t list any of their Lay’s Layers chips as gluten-free on their website.
Are Lay’s Stax gluten-free?
Some flavors of Stax are gluten-free. Those that Frito Lay lists as gluten-free are listed below:
- Stax Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Buffalo Wings with Ranch Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Chile Limón Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Flamas Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Mesquite Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Original Potato Crisps (D)
- Stax Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps
- Stax Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps
Are Lay’s Kettle Chips gluten-free?
In 2021, some varieties of Lay’s Kettle Chips were listed as gluten-free or not containing any gluten ingredients. Since then, the Frito-Lay website has updated and they no longer are considered an option for folks on a gluten-free diet.
Are Wavy Lay’s gluten-free?
Two flavors of Wavy Lay’s chips are considered gluten-free by the Frito-Lay brand: Lay’s Wavy Lightly Salted potato chips and Lay’s Wavy Original potato chips.
If you love grabbing a bag of Lay’s from your favorite sandwich shop for lunch, or having a bag on hand for when guests come over for barbecues or football games, I hope this post has helped you get the information you need to make decisions on which flavors and options will work for your gluten-free diet.
It’s a good idea to know which options of Lay’s the Frito-Lay Company considers free of gluten before you shop, so you can make an informed choice next time you’re at the store.
The labels don’t always tell the full story, so I’d go directly to the source to help you decide on what to buy.
If you loved this post, I hope that you’ll share it with your friends on Facebook and pin it for future reference on Pinterest.
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