One of the great things about Starbucks, is that whenever you have a question about the gluten free status of one of their drinks, you can just dial 1-800-235-2883, speak to a representative and find out if the drink is gluten free. It's extremely easy and convenient!
The other good news is that many of their drinks are gluten free. However, recently Starbucks decided to change one of their products. The new Coffee Light Frappuccino Syrup base contains gluten. Thankfully, the regular Coffee Frappuccino Syrup base and the Creme Frappuccino Syrup base still do not contain gluten. So, when ordering a Frappuccino now remember there is a heightened risk of cross-contamination. Starbucks protocol instructs that baristas wash blenders between drink orders but you may also want to notify your barista about your allergy and the importance of this crucial step when making your drink!
As far as the gluten free food options at Starbucks, there are a few choices. Starbucks was the first and only mainstream coffee shop to offer a gluten free pastry option with their Aztec Ancho Chile Brownie introduced into the NY market in April 2007 and then this was followed by the Orange Valencia Cake introduced nationally in May 2009. Unfortunately, both items were discontinued shortly after their introduction.
Although, we no longer can look forward to a delicious pastry at Starbucks as everyone who does not follow a restricted diet can, we still have some new snack options. The following items are now offered at Starbucks for those on gluten free diets and are all 220 calories or less:
*Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips = $1.50
*Lucy's Cookies (Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cinnamon) = $1.50 (Grab & Go Packs) and $5.95 (Box)
*Kind Bars (Mango Macadamia, Almond Cashew, Fruit & Nut Delight, Cranberry & Almond) = $1.95
*Peeled Snacks (Organic Much-Ado-About-Mango, Apple-2-The-Core, Cherry-Go-Round) = $2.00
*Stretch Island Fruit Company (Harvest Grape, Autumn Apple, Summer Strawberry) = $0.75
*Two Moms In The Raw (only the blueberry and gojiberry flavors that are labeled gluten free) = $3.95
Hopefully, Starbucks will soon reconsider offering gluten free pastry options, but until then we have some healthy snacks to munch on.