Possibly Contaminated Nutbag?

[Waitingindreams]

Hi everyone! Happy New Year!  

 

Okay so...I have been on a very strict diet since October. I have been cooking a lot more, and since then my OCD issues with gluten/cross contamination have increased significantly, especially since my family/boyfriend still eat gluten.

 

My boyfriend is very careful about cross contamination, and even decreased how much he eats gluten, but he still eats it and I am still stressed about crumbs/etc.

 

We make our own almond and coconut milk using nutbags. Today we were making the almond milk, and he accidentally dropped the nutbag in the sink. I immediately got paranoid because he washes his gluten dishes in the sink, and we never really wash the sink. I am aware I might be overly cautious, but my stress/OCD levels are at a peak when I am cooking, and I have never had my blood levels checked to see if my antibodies have gone down (maybe if I saw evidence that I am getting better I'd calm down)

 

He washed the nutbag out with hot soap/water. Is that fine? Should we put it through the dishwasher? Boil it in water/soap? Should it just be fine as is? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[kareng]

If you never wash your sink - you should be worried about the germs and salmonella and listeria, etc in it. My suggestion is to wash your sink every so often. Lol

I am not sure what a "nut bag" is in this circumstance. I can think of a few definitions of " nut bag" and don't see how they would drop in the sink. So I'm thinking this is a mesh bag? I would think you could wash it well - but maybe not in the dirty sink?

[Waitingindreams]

We literally purchased nut bags from a health food store, rather than using cheese cloths. Here is the one we use:

 

 

The sink always LOOKS clean, and we always "rinse" the sink with hot water, but I mean we never scrub it clean. We rarely leave dishes in it as we have a dish washer, and we also rarely cook meat (I make chicken sometimes, but never red meat/pork etc) I didn't mean to make it seem like the sink has crusty stuff all over it or anything, and I'm not I'm not really worried about germs, I'm just paranoid that there might be gluten lingering in there somewhere. I was thinking that we could wash the sink going forward as a precaution, just in case he does have something with gluten in it. 

 

As for dropping it - you squeeze the nutbag into a strainer to get out all of the milk and then use the remaining meal for cooking. He went to hang it to dry for a bit as he worked on the next batch, and it slipped off the hook into the sink. Just wondering what to do to be cautious of gluten, since he does eat gluten. 

[kareng]

Sorry- my dirty mind at work...... Lol

Is it machine washable? If there weren't a bunch of obvious crumbs, that would be enough for me.

[Waitingindreams]

I think the nut bags have to be washed by hand :\

 

Lol, there were no visible crumbs or anything. We keep the sink looking clean, I just meant that we never scrub it clean with soap or anything. To the naked eye the sink looks fine - there were no dishes in it, nothing that would set me off other than the embedded paranoia that "Oh, he eats gluten and rinses his gluten dishes in the sink, what if..." 

 

I appreciate you taking the time to answer! He hand washed it in hot water/soap, so we're both hoping that was enough. There wasn't anything else in the sink - no dishes, crumbs, or etc so fingers crossed! I don't drink the milk, but I do eat what we make with the meal. 

[StephanieL]

I wouldn't use it unless I ran it through the dishwasher.  Maybe on a sani rinse cycle.  As stated, beyond gluten I would worry about germs especially when you are making something that isn't cooked (as in the milks) where they could eliminate that risk with heat.

[notme]

(pokes topic with 10 ft pole....)    

 

sorry.  i'm 12 in my head (nut bag.....snicker, snicker)  

[Waitingindreams]

stephanie - Thanks for your response! I think after this we'll get into the habit of actually washing the sink. Anyone know the best way to do it? Should we just use dish detergent soap? Comet? Something else? 

 

The milk is raw, but we are going to cook the meal (I'm going to make muffins with it)  I really don't think there were any germs in there to worry about, but I do worry regardless. I am not positive if the nut bag is dishwasher safe, but we'll throw it in if we can. 

 

notme! Yeah I didn't even think about that >_< LOL. Swear it's a real thing! 

[StephanieL]

I use baking soda and vinegar for my sink cleaning.  I'm a hippy that way  I usually do a once over with dish soap first then follow up with the BS/V combo.

[kareng]

My sink isn't supposed to have bleach or acids - just clean with some dish soap. If yours is metal or that ceramic stuff, you can clean with anything.

[LauraTX]

Nut bag..... you dropped my mother in your sink?  LOL

 

I know, I know, everyone beat me to it.

 

As a fellow sufferer of OCD, I say throw the bag away.  Unless something is prohibitively expensive, paying for a new one is worth the peace of mind.  Could do a run through the dishwasher or clothes washer with whites or something, and nothing to lose there if it will prevent you from having to buy a new one if it survives the wash.  The more realistic gluten hater answer is to just wash well and use again.... but I would toss it.

[Waitingindreams]

The sink at my bf's house is metal, so I think I'll go with Stephanie's suggestion! I'll scrub it with the dish detergent soap first, then spray the baking soda/acv combo (ACV is all I have/use) I might even just reuse an old bottle of acv and make a spray out of that. Thanks everyone! 

 

Laura - he cleaned it pretty well with soap/water, but we did end up throwing it in the dishwasher as well. I didn't drink the milk regardless, but we did make muffins with the meal and they were fine. 

 

They aren't SUPER expensive, but they are pricey (I think it was $12.00 for one) we figured with the money we were spending on cheese cloths, we might as well just get  durable, reusable nut bag. (lol) We have 2 - one for coconut, the other is for almond. If the sink was really dirty or if it fell into a gluten filled bowl/plate then I'd really be freaking out.

 

I think my stress levels will go down significantly once I can actually get my blood levels re-checked, as I never have. My primary care doctor told me it was unnecessary, and I am now in training in my new job and I am not allowed any time off. I won't get out of training/transition until March :\ After that, I want to find a good gastro that specializes in celiac disease and go see him and keep up with my blood tests.