--- title: Gluten Free Diet What Is Gluten Jimmy Kimmel Viral Video description: Jimmy Kimmel asks people in L.A.: what is gluten? canonical: https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T14:09:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:30.076Z og:title: Watch Gluten-Free People Struggle To Explain What Gluten Is og:description: Jimmy Kimmel asks people in L.A.: what is gluten? og:url: https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Gluten-Free People Struggle To Explain What Gluten Is twitter:description: Jimmy Kimmel asks people in L.A.: what is gluten? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Gluten-Free People Struggle To Explain What Gluten Is by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 8, 2014 2:09 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 8, 2014 2:09 PM UTC Back in January, Girl Scouts of America announced that in addition to Samoas, Tagalongs and Thin Mints, they were going to [offer gluten-free cookies](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/29/gluten-free-girl-scout-cookies-coming-to-a-troop-near-you/) to customers. It is part of a nationwide dietary trend to avoid gluten and foods that traditionally contain gluten like wheat bread, cookies, and pasta. While some people need to avoid gluten for medical reasons (celiac disease, wheat allergies, etc.), others [choose to do so](http://business.time.com/2013/03/13/why-were-wasting-billions-on-gluten-free-food/) for other health or fitness reasons. [TIME](http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/04/top-10-food-trends/slide/gluten-free-everything/) labeled the gluten-free movement #2 on its top 10 list of food trends back in 2012 and, as the trend continues, restaurants and food manufacturers are eager to cash in by offering alternatives to gluten-based products. Even Dunkin Donuts — the cathedral for those of us who choose to worship the holy trinity of fat, sugar and gluten — is [offering gluten-free baked goods](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/21/dunkin-donuts-will-sell-gluten-free-baked-goods/). But what exactly is gluten? Hoping to answer that question, Jimmy Kimmel sent a camera crew to a park in Los Angeles to ask people who admit to choosing a gluten-free diet to ask: “What is gluten?” **MORE**: [NextDraft: How The FDA Defines Gluten-Free and Other Fascinating News on the Web](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/02/how-the-fda-defines-gluten-free-and-other-fascinating-news-on-the-web/) **MORE**: [Can Frozen Food Companies Make TV Dinners Cool Again?](http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/can-frozen-food-companies-make-tv-dinners-cool-again/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/"},"headline":"Watch Gluten-Free People Struggle To Explain What Gluten Is","datePublished":"2014-05-08T14:09:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:30.076Z","description":"Jimmy Kimmel asks people in L.A.: what is gluten?","url":"https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Videos","Viral Videos","Food and Beverage","Gluten"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/92234/watch-gluten-free-people-struggle-to-explain-what-gluten-is/","name":"Watch Gluten-Free People Struggle To Explain What Gluten Is"}}]}] ```