If you need to avoid gluten while watching the match, start by choosing pretzels or pretzel sticks explicitly labelled gluten-free. Then check the ingredients and ‘may contain’ statements for any other allergens relevant to you: vegan or lactose-free doesn’t automatically mean gluten-free or free from soya, sesame and egg.
For match night, choose pretzels or pretzel sticks explicitly labelled gluten-free. Traditional wheat pretzels are not a suitable alternative; other ingredients and ‘may contain’ statements are also important when choosing what’s right for you.
A vegan label helps you choose products without animal-derived ingredients, but it doesn’t answer questions about gluten, soya or sesame. Guests may also need to know about possible traces of milk and egg.
If you’re looking for organic pretzels or a particular fibre content, you can compare these details on the packaging. To work out how much to snack on during the evening, it’s also useful to check the salt content per 100 g and per portion eaten.
First, establish which ingredients need to be avoided. Then compare features such as vegan, organic, salt content and pack size among the snacks that meet your requirements.
| Criteria | What to check when buying | Who it matters most to |
|---|---|---|
| Avoiding gluten | Look for an explicit ‘gluten-free’ label and check the ingredients list; ‘vegan’ or ‘lactose-free’ is no substitute for this check. | If I need to avoid gluten, I need pretzels labelled accordingly rather than traditional wheat pretzels. Around 36% of consumers put avoiding gluten first when choosing. |
| Other allergens and traces | Check the ingredients list and ‘may contain’ statements on the current pack for substances relevant to you, such as soya, sesame or egg. | When catering for guests with other allergies, I don’t want to rely solely on the words ‘gluten-free’. Around 29% of consumers prioritise additional allergens and traces. |
| Vegan and organic | Check the vegan recipe and organic label separately; if needed, also look for a gluten-free label. | If I want a shared snack that’s vegan and preferably organic, I look for a combination of these features. Around 21% of consumers focus on this. |
| Salt and portion size | Compare the salt content per 100 g with your planned portion, and take other salty snacks and dips into account. | If people will be snacking throughout the match, I want to know how much salt is in the amount they’ll actually eat. This comparison is a priority for around 14% of consumers. |
Lorenz Saltletts Brezel is marketed as vegan, but according to REWE it contains wheat flour and barley malt extract. It’s therefore not suitable if you need to avoid gluten.
Treat ‘vegan’ as a separate selection criterion, and if you need to avoid gluten, look first for an explicit gluten-free label.
A gluten-free snack may contain other allergens or carry a ‘may contain’ warning. For example, Schär Salinis contain soya lecithin; other products may carry warnings about traces of soya, sesame or egg.
Read the ingredients list and ‘may contain’ statement on the specific pack, even if you’ve bought the product before.
Hammermühle notes that people with coeliac disease may tolerate gluten-free oats differently in its organic gluten-free oat pretzels.
If you have coeliac disease and aren’t sure how well you tolerate oats, follow the product-specific manufacturer’s advice to seek medical advice before eating them.
Gluten-free or vegan tells you nothing about salt content. The gluten-free options mentioned here have different salt values per 100 g.
Compare the nutritional information and consider how much of the pretzels, dips and other snacks you’re likely to eat.
Schär Salinis are mini salted pretzels in a 60-g pack. REWE lists them as gluten-free, lactose-free, wheat-free and vegan.
REWE lists the organic pretzel sticks in this range as gluten-free, vegan and lactose-free.
The gluten-free organic oat pretzels are marketed as vegan; the product information states that they contain 5,8 g of fibre per 100 g.
Saltletts Brezel is a traditional vegan salted pretzel in a 200-g pack, and an option to compare if you don’t need to avoid gluten.
EDEKA24 lists Schär Salinis with product information on ingredients and allergens, and states that it delivers throughout Germany.
No. These labels refer to different properties from gluten content. If you need to avoid gluten, choose a product explicitly labelled gluten-free, then check the ingredients for other substances that may be relevant to you. The European Commission sets out harmonised EU requirements for the use of the term ‘gluten-free’.
No. According to REWE, Schär Salinis contain soya lecithin and may contain traces of sesame; REWE frei von organic pretzel sticks may contain traces of egg, sesame and soya. Check the current pack of the product you’re planning to buy.
A ‘gluten-free’ label doesn’t tell you whether you’ll personally tolerate oats. For Hammermühle organic oat pretzels, the manufacturer notes that people with coeliac disease may tolerate gluten-free oats differently and recommends seeking medical advice before eating them.
Compare the salt content per 100 g of the snacks you’re considering, and relate it to the amount you’re likely to eat. Remember to include dips and other salty snacks in your plans for the evening; a gluten-free or vegan label doesn’t tell you anything about salt content.