I just pulled a package of Fisherman’s Friends out of my desk drawer, and suddenly had a moment of doubt.  What if they contain wheat in some shape or form?

There is no ingredients on the package, because it comes in a paper and foil package, originally housed in a larger box with many other packs.  No doubt, the ingredients are one the larger box, but that box is in the store, and I am at my desk, far far away.

The first thing I did – and I recommend you do something similar if you have such a question - was to type fisherman's friend ingredients into Google.

The first result was not the official Fisherman’s Friend website.  Instead, it was Wikipedia.  Wikipedia seems to come up first for almost anything you type into Google these days.

According to Wikipedia, Fisherman’s Friend lozenges contains starch.

Starch = red flag. 

So the question is: what kind of starch?

Back to Google.  The second result is fishermansfriend.ca.  And from this site I got more information.  In fact, the information is very specific for people with allergies.

The short answer to whether Fisherman’s Friend lozenges is safe for a gluten-free diet is YES, they are safe.

I was also pleased to see that Fisherman’s Friends are free of the following:

• Wheat Starch
• Rye Starch
• Barley Starch
• Oats Starch
• Milk
• Preservatives
• Eggs
• Soy
• Sulpher Dioxide
• Nuts
• Gelatin
• Meat products

One would not expect lozenges, or candy-like product to contain wheat or gluten, but you never know.  Some do (e.g. many types of liquorice candy), so it is always worth checking.

This article is not intended to promote these lozenges.  It does serve as a great example of how to discover answers to these types of questions.  It also shows how manufacturers can handle allergy information on their website.

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