Smucker’s is arguably one of the most popular jam and jelly brands in North America. The parent company, The J. M. Smucker Co., originally started by making apple butter in 1897, and it has since expanded to produce fruit preserves, pet food, coffee, and more! While these facts are interesting, if you’re a celiac or someone who has to avoid gluten in their diet, all you’re interested in is one thing: Is Smucker’s jelly gluten free?
Jam should be gluten-free naturally, but that doesn’t mean it always is. This article will help dispel any confusion you may have about Smucker’s and give you a gluten-free Smucker’s jam and jelly list for you to follow.
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Does Smucker’s Avoid Gluten Cross-Contact?
I could find neither hide nor hair of anything gluten free on Smucker’s website – no lists and no discussions. Jam and jelly are almost always made from gluten-free ingredients, but the concern is that because Smucker’s is a company that produces a lot of other products – many of which contain gluten – their jam could come into contact with other gluten-containing foods during the manufacturing process, which can make celiacs or people with gluten sensitivity sick.
We reached out to Smucker’s directly to have them answer the question, “Is Smucker’s jelly gluten free?” We also hoped to get a list of GF jam and jelly and learn more about the Smucker’s facility – specifically how they prevent gluten or allergen cross-contact.
This was their response:
Thank you for contacting us regarding the presence of gluten in one of our Smucker’s® products.
For over 120 years, providing our consumers with the highest quality products has been of paramount importance to The J.M. Smucker Company. Quality products begin with quality ingredients and we employ comprehensive procurement procedures to ensure our products contain only the finest ingredients from reputable suppliers.
In response to your inquiry, Smucker’s® Fruit Spreads do not contain ingredients derived from gluten. However, they do not meet the established U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations for a Gluten Free claim. We do not have a facility that has been certified as “gluten free” by a third-party qualifier.
More information on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations regarding Gluten Free labeling can be found at fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/allergens/ucm362510.htm.
If you have any additional questions, feel free to visit us at smuckers.com or give us a call at 888-550-9555.
Best Regards,
Consumer Relations Representative
Clearly, this is simply a canned response, but you’d hope that the consumer relations representative would slightly modify the response to reference what we were saying. We never claimed that we found gluten in one of their products. We were asking them, “Is Smucker’s jelly gluten free?”
Also, I always chuckle a little when companies make it a point to say that they include high-quality ingredients without saying much more. I hope that they use only good ingredients! I can’t imagine that a company that has been around for 125 years has done so by using only the worst ingredients. Can you imagine getting a response saying they buy only the cheapest ingredients and just cut out the moldy spots? But, I digress!
Smucker’s Gluten-Free Jam and Jelly List
Here’s a full list of all the Smucker’s fruit preserves that contain gluten-free ingredients:
- Natural Strawberry Fruit Spread
- Natural Squeeze Strawberry Fruit Spread
- Natural Blackberry Fruit Spread
- Natural Concord Grape Fruit Spread
- Natural Squeeze Concord Grape Fruit Spread
- Natural Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread
- Natural Red Raspberry Fruit Spread
- Natural Squeeze Red Raspberry Fruit Spread
- Natural Red Tart Cherry Fruit Spread
- Mosaics Cherry Blueberry Fruit Spread
- Mosaics Peach Raspberry Fruit Spread
- Mosaics Strawberry Blackberry Fruit Spread
- Mosaics Strawberry Mango Fruit Spread
- Blackberry Jam
- Concord Grape Jam
- Red Plum Jam
- Seedless Black Raspberry-Blackberry Jam
- Seedless Blackberry Jam
- Seedless Boysenberry Jam
- Seedless Red Raspberry Jam
- Seedless Strawberry Jam
- Strawberry Jam
- Apple Jelly
- Black Raspberry Jelly
- Blackberry Jelly
- Concord Grape Jelly
- Strawberry Jelly
- Apricot Preserves
- Blueberry Preserves
- Cherry Preserves
- Peach Preserves
- Pineapple Preserves
- Red Raspberry Preserves
- Strawberry Preserves
- Sweet Orange Marmalade
- Simply Fruit Apricot Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Concord Grape Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Peach Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Red Raspberry Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Seedless Black Raspberry Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Seedless Blackberry Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Seedless Red Raspberry Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Seedless Strawberry Spreadable Fruit
- Simply Fruit Strawberry Spreadable Fruit
- Fruit & Honey Strawberry Fruit Spread
- Fruit & Honey Triple Berry Fruit Spread
- Low Sugar Reduced Sugar Concord Grape Jelly
- Low Sugar Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves
- Sugar Free Apricot Preserves with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Blueberry Preserves with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Concord Grape Jam with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Orange Marmalade with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Peach Preserves with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Red Raspberry Preserves with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Seedless Blackberry Jam with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Seedless Strawberry Jam with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves with Splenda Brand Sweetener
- Cider Apple Butter
- Squeeze Grape Jelly
- Squeeze Reduced Sugar Strawberry Fruit Spread
- Squeeze Strawberry Fruit Spread
Don’t forget to check out our complete list of gluten-free jam brands you should try.
I’m Confused. So Is Smucker’s Jelly Gluten Free?
Here’s what we know Smucker’s has:
No Ingredients With Gluten
What we know is that Smucker’s products contain no gluten ingredients. That’s important and a great start!
No Third-Party Reviews
We also know that Smucker’s doesn’t want to shell out to have a third-party review their facility to ensure that they can slap a “gluten-free” claim on their products.
By the way, that third-party review is required by the FDA gluten-free food labeling rules, which states that any foods that have a “gluten-free” claim of any kind (even just “free of gluten” or “without gluten”) have to be below 20 parts per million of gluten. You can’t know that without a third-party test. Smucker’s hasn’t tested their facilities, so they can’t make that gluten-free claim.
No Assurances
This also means that we have no way of knowing whether Smucker’s jelly is naturally gluten free and free from gluten cross-contact. It could be, but if you paid close attention to their response, you noticed that Smucker’s didn’t even answer our question about how they avoid gluten cross-contact in their facilities. Is that because they don’t clean their machines to avoid gluten and other allergens, or is it because the response was a templated one and they didn’t use that opportunity to clear up the confusion?
To be clear, we’re not insinuating that Smucker’s jelly is not gluten free. All we’re trying to point out is that without a gluten-free certification (or even just a gluten-free label!) and assurances from Smucker’s, we don’t truly know. Smucker’s could have a completely gluten-free safe facility, even if they don’t have it certified. We just don’t know.
So, what’s the verdict? Is Smucker’s jelly gluten free? Their jellies and jams do not contain ingredients with gluten. This we can be absolutely certain of. Smucker’s manufacturing processes are unknown. When this lack of knowledge happens, the Gluten-Free Grubbin’ stance is that you literally have to trust your gut on this one.
Go get your grub on!
