Cross Contamination - Cleaning Kitchen Utensils

[tomriddle]

I have read a number of articles that suggest that gluten "sticks" to different surfaces and that you should purchase separate cooking utensils to avoid cross contamination even after washing the affected item.

I have read numerous articles that make these claims, but am yet to find a single article that provides a source.

Is this a myth that has been perpetuated or is there some scientific study that has been done that proves this?

I am not interested in anecdotal evidence or articles that simply state you should buy new plastic ware etc.  I am wondering what solid evidence there is for these claims.

Can anyone assist?

I want scientific evidence that shows why I can't just throw a plastic cutting board into a dish washer that has been used with gluten and then re-use it.  

I assume someone must have done a study to determine what surfaces gluten can "stick" to.  What is required to remove the gluten if it has "stuck" and does the item remain forever contaminated or can it be cleaned?

Is this just an urban myth?

 

[Ennis-TX]

Fact, gluten is a protein like blood, smaller then a germ. Some surfaces with scratches, porous etc, it just is harder to get off. Think of trying to clean blood off of some thing where the CSI techs can not find traces.

But like a protein high heat can destroy the proteins like 500F+ like the oven self clean cycle so you can decon some pans and post that way....I do not think scientist have gone and rubbed a gluten roux on cutting boards then done a gluten swab and lab testing after trying to clean them....just the fact so many celiacs have tracked down gluten exposures with symptoms to said items being used constant causing the issues.

I will follow this, the amusement of finding a article of them trying to clean said articles should be amusing.....from personal experience the stuff is a real pain in the arse to get off things and the risk/trouble makes throwing things away easier then 6 weeks of diarrhea after a day or so of agonizing pain.

[cyclinglady]

Unfortunately, all research money is going into helping to diagnosis and treat celiac disease and not studying kitchen tools.   Most suggestions are based on common sense and years of real-life experience avoiding gluten.  

You can choose to manage your celiac disease by following the kitchen safety recommendations of every major celiac organization or not.  The choice is yours!  

 

[tomriddle]

Thanks.  I'm not advocating ignoring the suggestion of major celiac organisations.  But their recommendations do vary.  For example coeliac uk simply suggests that you wash pots and pans with soap and water and this is considered to be sufficient.  

Other websites would say that this not enough and you should have separate pots and pans etc.

Seems like the guidelines are based on anecdotal evidence either way.

There seems to be a lot of debate as to how far we should go.  Just interested if there is a definitive answer.  Seems there probably isn't.

[Pepper88]

I've been dabbling with this myself... so far I've found that I'm safest to go with the no scratches and porous surfaces rule. I typically am okay with just re-washing stainless steel and others.

[apprehensiveengineer]

I'm not sure that I would consider the suggestion that food residues (including gluten) may be left in porous or scratched materials is anecdotal in the true sense. There is lots of evidence that it is extremely difficult to truly clean residues from porous materials of, or materials that have lots of pitting/scratches.

It is recommended by most national food safety organizations for example, that dedicated cutting boards be used for different types of food (eg. raw meats, veggies, bread etc.) because it is not possible to clean such surfaces adequately to prevent growth of dangerous bacteria from raw meat. Grooves and pores may not be appear significant to the naked eye, but they have a tremendous amount of surface area that make it nearly impossible to clean properly without industrial methods (eg. autoclave, sophisticated bleach/chemical cleaning, as might be used in a hospital setting to clean surgical equipment).

Allergens are not bacteria, but similar amounts of allergens can make people sick if they are sensitive to the allergen. Unlike bacteria, allergens cannot generally be bleached/heat treated with damaging the cooking utensil/item, and so the concern goes beyond just cutting boards.

If you want some anecdotes, using the stainless steel pots and pans at my parents' house makes me sick. They are 30+ years old, scratched to heck, and all have seen a lot of pasta over the decades. I went to Walmart and bought some cheap dedicated gluten-free replacements, and there was much improvement.