FOOD, DRINKS + PARTY: How do you determine if a recipe is gluten-free?

I have seen so many times the word "gluten-free" and I was wondering its meaning, and why some people have this preference.

After son research and trying to find out if I knew somebody with a condition that prevent them from eating gluten, it was hard to think, then I remember one of my friends in university who could not tolerate very well flour (gluten), bad for him because almost all the food that you can get on the street is made with flour, at least in Venezuela you can find arepas, empanadas, bollitos that are made from corn flour (gluten-free).

since I came to Trinidad I have become more conscience about eaten preferences, here I have encounter so many religions (Venezuela is 90%catholic, and 10% others) that when you have a get together, you have to cater for the vegetarians, the pork eater, and the feed eater, and those who do not eat pork, beef or there are not fully vegetarian, so they eat fish. A little bit complicated some times. But it just about to get use to it.

Returning to our point about gluten, I found that there is a lot of misinformation about this topic that make difficult sometimes to determine what is gluten-free food.

Let's start for the definition. Gluten: is the elastic protein in the grains: wheat, rye, barley, durum, einkorn, graham, semolina, bulgur wheat, spelt, farro, kamut, and triticale.

Foods that contain Gluten:

Commercial oats also contain gluten due to cross contamination in processing.

Recipes that use flour (bleached white flour, whole wheat, cracked wheat, barley, semolina, spelt, farro, kamut, triticale) or vital wheat gluten are not gluten-free.

Recipes featuring pasta, including cous cous, are not gluten-free.

Beer, ale and lager are not gluten-free. Brats, meats and sausage cooked in beer are not gluten-free.

Malt vinegar, malt flavorings and barley malt are not gluten-free.

Recipes calling for breadcrumbs, breaded coatings, flour dredging, bread and flat bread, croutons, bagels, croissants, flour tortillas, pizza crust, graham crackers, granola, cereal, wheat germ, wheat berries, cookie crumbs, pie crust, crackers, pretzels, toast, flour tortillas, wraps and lavash, or pita bread are not gluten-free. Seitan is not gluten-free; some tempeh is not gluten-free. Flavored tofu may not be gluten-free. Injera bread (traditionally made with teff flour) and rice wraps may be gluten-free, but are not always gluten-free (check labels).

Hidden gluten and wheat can be found in gravy, broth, bouillon, soy sauce, tamari, marinades, sauces, salad dressings, cured meats, sausage, hot dogs, vegan hot dogs, sausages and burgers, self-basting poultry, flavored and herb cheeses, blue veined (bread mold based) cheeses, spice blends including curry powder, dry mustard, canned and prepared soups, tomato paste, sweeteners, confectioner's and brown sugar, beverages, flavored coffees, herbal teas, roasted, flavored or spiced nuts, jerky, flavored yogurts and puddings, some chocolate and chocolate chips, cocoa and instant coffee mixes, flavored vinegars, cooking wines, flavored liqueur and liquor, wine coolers, ice cream and frozen desserts.

Barley enzymes used in natural flavors and to process some non-dairy beverages, chocolate chips, coffee and dessert syrups and some brown rice syrups, are not gluten-free.

Grains, flours, starches and thickeners that are safe for celiac and wheat allergies include: