Gluten free at Costa Coffee in the UK ☕
Everything gluten free at Costa Coffee and the cross-contamination risks you need to consider if you're coeliac.
Philippa Lee
July 18, 2024
This blog was last updated in August 2024 ☕
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❗Before we start, this is very important…
There are literally Costa Coffees everywhere you look; train stations, airports, service stations, shopping malls, highstreets and even machines popping up in offices and supermarkets. But do you know exactly what’s gluten free at Costa Coffee? Do you know what drinks are a cross-contamination risk? What food options there are for when you’re on-the-go and spot a Costa?
Well, we’ve broken the whole UK Costa Coffee menu down for you and have highlighted some of the most important things you need to consider when you’re a gluten free foodie at a Costa Coffee.
Costa Coffee have some pretty generic allergen disclaimers on their website but here’s one thing that you really should know about gluten cross-contamination at Costa.
“Due to ongoing improvements in our food and drink offerings, ingredients may have changed since your last purchase. We can't guarantee that unpackaged items or hand-crafted drinks are safe for those with severe allergies due to the use of shared equipment.
Due to the use of shared equipment in the display, preparation and service of our products there is a risk of cross contamination.
We cannot guarantee that any of our products are free from allergens, due to the use of shared equipment in a busy environment.”
The biggest gluten cross-contamination risk at Costa Coffee comes from the milk steaming wand and the fact that the wand is used for both cows milk AND plant based milk alternatives, including oat milk.
You might remember that a few years ago, someone behind Costa Coffee’s Twitter channel made a monumental ‘slip up’ and caused outrage in the gluten free community when they replied to a tweet stating that heat kills gluten.
Wrong, wrong so very very wrong! Not only was this INCREDIBLY dangerous for those newly diagnosed coeliacs who may well have taken that as factual information, but it just doesn’t even make sense? If heat killed gluten then surely we’d all be fine eating anything that’s cooked? KFC chicken? No problem, it’s been in the deep fat fryer - it’s gluten free!
So to reiterate, gluten is NOT like bacteria and it cannot be killed when something is cooked at a high temperature.
Costa quickly tried to cover their mistake and state that they do take the safety and wellbeing of their customers extremely seriously and apologised for the incorrect information that was shared from their Twitter account. They explained that they do have strict training and procedures in place in all stores, to help reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
They went on to say that when a customer informs them about an allergy or a dietary requirement, their team members are happy to explain the measures they take to reduce the risk of cross-contamination, so they can make an informed choice. Those include the use of additional equipment such as separate jugs and cleaning cloths. Steam wands are also cleaned with the relevant cloths and purged after every drink preparation to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
But the key word in that sentence is ‘reduce’ because although the wands are cleaned, wiping them quickly with a cloth is unlikely to remove all remaining milk residue.
Costa Coffee tweet about heat killing gluten
At the moment, the other milk alternatives (aside from oat milk) that Costa have are gluten free without any ‘may contains’ but they do change their suppliers often so always double check. The best thing that Costa could do to eliminate this problem completely for us gluten free folk, would be to use gluten free oat milk only, or have dedicated steamer wands for the different milks. Although, I completely understand that this is likely not possible due to the size of Costa stores and the need to use more than one steamer at a time for busy periods.
Ultimately, you’re the only person that can decide whether you’re happy and confident to have a hot milk based drink at Costa knowing the risks. We’re here to give you a breakdown of everything that is, or can be made, gluten free so that you can make an informed decision. All of the information in this blog has been taken from the official UK Costa Coffee allergy matrix and has been split out into the following categories:
✅ Gluten free without any mention of ‘may contains’ on the official Costa Coffee allergen menu
❌ Ingredients include wheat, barley, rye or oats so not gluten free
To clarify, this is for UK Costa Coffee only and this should be used as a guide and not an official allergen matrix because menus and ingredients change all the time. Use this link for the official UK Costa Coffee allergen guide.
So, Costa Coffee dubs themselves the ‘Nations Favourite Coffee Shop’ but let’s see if they’re going to be a favourite for the gluten free community… 🤔
🥛 Milks / Plant Based Alternatives
Like we mentioned above, Costa has 3 Alpro plant based alternatives on the menu: Soya, Coconut and Oat. The Soya and Coconut are gluten free without any ‘may contains’ but the Oat is regular oat and not gluten free oat so needs to be avoided if you are gluten free.
Technically, any of the drinks we list below, which require use of the milk steamer, will be at risk of gluten cross-contamination because the same wand is used for oat milk. It is entirely up to you whether you feel comfortable with this but I recommend always letting your server know about your gluten intolerance/coeliac disease and asking them to thoroughly clean the wand before using it for your drink.
✅ Whole Milk
✅ Semi Skimmed Milk
✅ Skimmed Milk
✅ Alpro Plant Alternative - Soya
✅ Alpro Plant Alternative - Coconut
❌ Alpro Plant Alternative - Oat
☕ Drinks at Costa Coffee
Let’s start by going through the Costa Coffee drinks menu to see what’s gluten free, what you need to be cautious of and what to avoid completely. In terms of gluten free drink options, it’s a pleasant surprise that quite a lot of the drinks are gluten free and suitable for those who are coeliac!
🧋 Frappé
Costa Frappé’s
Costa Frappés are a range of creamy iced drinks made with or without a shot of coffee using blended ice and your choice of milk and flavourings, served with whipped cream. Depending on the flavour, Costa Coffee Frappés can be gluten free but watch out for those with a biscuit or cake topping - these won’t be suitable for those on a gluten free diet.
Frappés use cold milk, not steamed, and the blenders should be washed between each use so cross-contamination with alternative milks containing gluten (oat milk) is a minimum for Frappés as they don’t require the use of the shared steaming wand.
✅ Blueberry Bubble Frappé
✅ Raspberry Mini-Bubble Frappé
✅ Tropical Mango Bubble Frappé
✅ Strawberries & Cream Frappé
✅ Salted Caramel Frappé
✅ Salted Caramel Frappé with Coffee
✅ Coffee Frappé
❌ Cookie Dough Frappé - contains wheat
❌ Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frappé - contains wheat
❌ Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frappé Mocha - contains wheat
Always double check Frappé flavours, even if you’ve previously had gluten free before; suppliers and recipes can change at the drop of a hat and it’s better to be safe and double check than suffer the consequences!
🧊☕ Coffee Over Ice
Costa Coffee Over Ice
All of Costa’s Coffee Over Ice drinks in the below list are gluten free - just make sure you don’t order with oat milk and be aware of the cross-contamination risks with the milk steamer.
✅ Ice Whipped White Chocolate Latte
✅ Ice Whipped Caramel Latte
✅ Ice Whipped Choco Latte
✅ Iced Latte
✅ Iced Black Americano
✅ Iced Cappuccino
✅ Iced Flat White
✅ Iced Mocha
✅ Iced Cortado
☕ Coffee
Costa Coffee
Similar to the coffee over ice, the hot coffee at Costa is also all gluten free. If you want a breakdown of the syrups, sauces and toppers then scroll down to the bottom to see which are gluten free. As mentioned earlier, hot coffees with milk will have a cross-contamination risk from the milk steaming wand so bear this in mind when you are ordering and don’t be afraid to ask staff to give the wand a thorough clean or if they have a dedicated gluten free one available.
✅ Golden Caramel Latte Macchiato
✅ Golden Caramel Iced Latte Macchiato
✅ Flat White
✅ Latte
✅ Cappuccino
✅ Flat Black
✅ Americano
✅ Mocha
✅ Cortado
✅ Caramel Cortado
✅ Mocha Cortado
✅ Espresso
🥤 Other Cold Drinks
Costa Other Cold Drinks
All of these super refreshing cold drinks at Costa are gluten free!
✅ Pink Lemonade
✅ Still Lemonade
✅ Watermelon & Mint Refresher
✅ Apple & Rhubarb Refresher
Find great gluten free brands & much more!
🍵 Other Hot Drinks
Costa Other Hot Drinks
Like with the Costa Frappés, be careful of other hot drinks at Costa which might have flavourings or extras which contain gluten. The regular Hot Chocolate at Costa is gluten free but they often have special editions like a KitKat Hot Chocolate which is not gluten free.
As always, bear in mind the cross-contamination possibility with the milk steamer for these other hot drinks.
✅ White Chocolate & Strawberry Hot Milkshake
✅ Salted Caramel Coffee Hot Milkshake
✅ Hot Chocolate
✅ White Hot Chocolate
✅ Chai Latte
✅ Milk Babyccino
❌ Chocolate Hazel Hot Milkshake - contains wheat
❌ KitKat Hot Chocolate - contains wheat
❌ KitKat Mocha Latte - contains wheat
🧊🍵 Iced Tea
Costa Iced Tea
You’re in luck! All of the following Costa Coffee Ice Tea’s are gluten free!
✅ Blueberry Burst Bubble Tea
✅ Mango Berry Bubble Tea
✅ Peach Ice Tea
🫖 Tea
Tea
If you’re gluten free, the likelihood is that Tea will always be your best friend, because the majority of the time they are all gluten free, including the fruity flavours. All of the tea at Costa Coffee is gluten free and there are some tasty flavours to try too!
✅ English Breakfast Tea
✅ Decaf Tea
✅ Earl Grey Tea
✅ Green Tea
✅ Mint Tea
✅ Superfruity Infusion
✅ Citrus Zing with Vitamin C
✅ Spiced Apple with Vitamin B6
✅ Mellow Mango with Zinc
🍇 Fruit Coolers
Costa Fruit Coolers
Exactly what we all need this summer - ice cold coolers and the two fruit flavours from Costa are both gluten free!
✅ Mango & Passion Fruit Cooler
✅ Red Summer Berries
🫙 Syrups, Sauces & Toppers
Currently, all of the syrups and sauces at Costa Coffee are gluten free so you can jazz up your standard coffee with any of the below but make sure you double check the toppers - there’s plenty of biscuity or cakey crumb which is added to some of the speciality hot drinks or Frappés which contain gluten.
Syrup
✅ Vanilla Syrup
✅ Vanilla Syrup (SUGAR FREE)
✅ Roasted Hazelnut Flavour Syrup
✅ Caramel Syrup
✅ Caramel Syrup (SUGAR FREE)
✅ Gingerbread Syrup (SUGAR FREE)
✅ Cinnamon Bun Syrup (SUGAR FREE)
✅ Chai Syrup
✅ White Peach Syrup
✅ Wafer Flavour Syrup
✅ Pure Cane Sugar Syrup
Sauces
✅ Blueberry Sauce
✅ Raspberry Sauce
✅ Mango Sauce
✅ White Chocolate Sauce
✅ Salted Caramel Sauce
✅ Strawberry Sauce
✅ Caramel Chocolate Flavour Sauce
✅ Belgian Chocolate Sauce
Toppers
✅ Whipping Cream
✅ Light Whip
✅ Marshmallow
✅ Cappuccino Dusting
✅ Caramel Vermicelli
✅ Strawberry Sprinkle
✅ Bronze Shimmer
✅ Hundreds & Thousands Sprinkles
✅ Cookie Dough Fudge Sprinkle
❌ Chocolate Flavour Brownie Crumb - contains wheat
❌ Crunchy Biscuit Crumb - contains wheat
❌ KitKat Pieces - contains wheat
❌ Choc Chip Cookie Pieces - contains wheat
🍴 Food at Costa Coffee
Okay, now that the drinks are out of the way, I have to warn you that it goes downhill from here. Unless you’ve never set foot in a Costa Coffee before, you probably know that their gluten free food options are pretty much non-existent. Which, for a chain that has almost 15,000 locations throughout the UK, is disappointing to say the least and I just hope that in the near future, they realise the importance of having a variety of gluten free options available for the 12% of the UK population who are gluten free.
It still baffles me that in this day and age, even somewhere like Costa Coffee doesn’t have at least one gluten free sandwich or on-the-go lunch option? Especially when their sandwiches are pre-packaged and not even prepared on site! Come on Costa, sort it out!
🥓 Breakfast
Costa Coffee Breakfast Items
You probably won’t be surprised to see that none of the Costa Coffee breakfast items are gluten free as every single one contains some form of gluten - even a gluten free porridge pot seems too much to ask for!
❌ Mango & Passionfruit Bircher - contains oat
❌ British Smoked Bacon Bap - contains wheat
❌ Pork Sausage Bap - contains wheat
❌ Egg Mushroom & Spinach Bap - contains wheat
❌ All Day Breakfast Wrap - contains wheat
❌ Raisin & Almond Granola - contains oat
❌ Wholegrain Jumbo Oats Porridge - contains oat
❌ Greek Style Yoghurt with Mixed Berry Compote - contains wheat, barley & oat
❌ White Toast - contains wheat
❌ Seeded Brown Toast - contains wheat, rye, barley & oat
❌ Wholegrain Porridge - contains oat
🥪 Lunch
Costa Coffee Lunch Items
Yet again, zero gluten free options across all of Costa Coffee’s lunch items. Wouldn’t it just be so helpful, and more importantly, inclusive, if they introduced a gluten free sandwich or a toastie which could be heated up in its packaging to prevent any cross-contamination. If M&S can do it, surely other places can too! In my opinion, eating on-the-go is one of the hardest things when you’re gluten free and it’s down to big brands like this who don’t cater for those who need to avoid gluten.
❌ Tandoori Bhaji Flatbread - contains wheat
❌ Chicken Shawarma Flatbread - contains wheat
❌ Heinz Beanz & Cheese Toastie - contains wheat
❌ Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap - contains wheat
❌ BOSH! Fab Falafel & Houmous Wrap - contains wheat
❌ BLT Sandwich - contains wheat & barley
❌ Free Range Egg Mayo Sandwich - contains wheat, barley & oat
❌ Halloumi & Chargrilled Veg Toastie - contains wheat, barley, rye & oat
❌ Roast Chicken & ‘Nduja Toastie - contains wheat, barley, rye & oat
❌ BOSH! Plant-based Crackin’ Ham & Cheeze Toastie - contains wheat
❌ Ham & Cheese Toastie - contains wheat
❌ Wiltshire Ham & Mature Cheddar Toastie - contains wheat
❌ Chicken & Bacon Toastie - contains wheat
❌ Pole & Line Tuna Melt Panini - contains wheat
❌ Mozzarella & Tomato Panini - contains wheat
❌ New York Deli Bagel - contains wheat & barley
❌ Creamy Mac & Cheese - contains wheat
❌ Pork & Apple Sausage Roll - contains wheat
❌ Cajun Spiced Chicken Pizza Wrap - contains wheat
❌ Prawn Mayonnaise Sandwich - contains wheat, barley & oat
❌ Cheese & Tomato Toastie - contains wheat
🍰 Pastries & Sweets
I mean, it’s no shock to see that none of the pastries or fresh bakes at Costa Coffee are gluten free! But when you see a list like this, it really does make you think that surely there is room for just a couple of GF options in there…
❌ Orange & Raspberry Victoria Sponge - contains wheat
❌ Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake - contains wheat
❌ Carrot & Walnut Cake - contains wheat
❌ BOSH! Gingernut Loaf Cake - contains wheat
❌ Triple Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake - contains wheat & oat
❌ BOSH! Double Chocolate Cookie - contains wheat
❌ Belgian Chocolate Chunk Cookie - contains wheat
❌ Chocolate Cornflake Cake - contains barley
❌ Croissant - contains wheat
❌ Almond Croissant - contains wheat
❌ Chocolate Twist - contains wheat
❌ Pain aux Raisin - contains wheat
❌ Pain au Chocolat - contains wheat
❌ Fruited Teacake - contains wheat
❌ Cinnamon Bun - contains wheat
❌ Triple Chocolate Muffin - contains wheat & barley
❌ Blueberry Muffin - contains wheat & oat
❌ Lemon Muffin - contains wheat
❌ Salted Caramel Brownie - contains wheat
❌ BOSH! Pecan Slice - contains wheat
❌ BOSH! Caramelised Biscuit Rocky Road - contains wheat
❌ Millionaire’s Shortbread - contains wheat
❌ Chocolate Tiffin - contains wheat
❌ Raspberry & Almond Bake - contains wheat
❌ Bakewell Tart - contains wheat
❌ Lemon Curd Tart - contains wheat
❌ Triple Chocolate Doughnut - contains wheat & rye
❌ Mixed Berry Doughnut - contains wheat & rye
❌ Nutty Salted Caramel Doughnut - contains wheat & rye
🍪 Snacks
At last - some gluten free options! Yes, we’re only talking about crisps, popcorn and a couple of pre-packaged sweet treats but it’s something! Just make sure that you don’t mix up the gluten free Millionaire’s Shortbread and the gluten free Belgian Chocolate Brownie with the non-gluten free options in the cake cabinets!
✅ Lightly Sea Salted Crisps
✅ Sea Salt & Vinegar Crisps
✅ Mature Cheddar & Red Onion Crisps
✅ Sweet & Salty Popcorn
✅ Millionaire’s Shortbread (Gluten Free)
✅ Belgian Chocolate Brownie (Gluten Free)
❌ Bubble Frappe Gingerbread Biscuit - contains wheat
❌ Sunny Shortcake Biscuit - contains wheat
❌ Jammy Shortbread - contains wheat
❌ Triple Chocolate Biscuits - contains wheat
❌ Caramel Waffles - contains wheat
❌ Stem Ginger Biscuits - contains wheat & oat
❌ Fruit & Oat Biscuits - contains wheat & oat
❌ BOSH! Fruity Flapjack - contains oat
❌ Chocolate Filled Mini Muffins - contains wheat
❌ Mini All Butter Shortbreads - contains wheat
❌ Mini Fruited Panettone
RECAP!
So, I think we can all agree after reading that, if you’re looking for gluten free food at Costa, you might want to give it a swift swerve and go somewhere that offers more than just a packet of crisps and a pre-packaged brownie. However, they do have a lot of gluten free drink options, you just need to be aware of the potential cross-contamination risks and make sure to always check the allergen matrix or ask members of staff in case any of the ingredients have changed.
I find it hard to believe that in 2024, with over 8.5 million people living gluten free in the UK, a popular chain with almost 15,000 locations doesn’t offer a decent gluten free menu. It’s disappointing and I just hope that in months to come, I’ll look back at this blog and see how much has changed… think positive people!
Here are the main points to recap:
⚠️ One of the most important things to remember about ordering a drink at Costa Coffee is the cross-contamination risk from the milk steamer. Although Costa staff are trained to use separate jugs and cloths for different milk, the same milk steamer wand is used for oat milk, other plant based alternatives and cows milk. Always make your server aware of your allergies when ordering and ask if they can either give the wand a thorough clean before prepping your drink or, if they’re a bigger location, if they have a dedicated gluten free milk steamer available.
⚠️ A lot of the drinks at Costa are gluten free but be careful with the flavourings and toppings. Don’t get caught out by gluten containing biscuit crumbs or cookie pieces in your drinks!
⚠️ Costa isn’t great for gluten free food, in fact, is has only 6 gluten free options across their whole menu so if you’re looking for a substantial lunch and not just a packet of crisps then my suggestion is, spend your money elsewhere!
☕☕☕
❗This was last updated in August 2024 - please note that the Costa Coffee menu and allergen information can change at any time so use this as a guide but always double check the official UK Costa Coffee allergen guide. ❗
