Cross contamination: restaurants

[Kat8]

I've always thought that deep-fryers in restaurants were safe - since the heat of the deep fryer changes the gluten protein.  It used to show no evidential reactions - but now that seems to be changing.  I've noticed that when I eat in restaurants and order something involving their deep fryer, my symptoms will be seriously exacerbated.  Does anyone have this experience?  

[kareng]

1 hour ago, Katya said:

I've always thought that deep-fryers in restaurants were safe - since the heat of the deep fryer changes the gluten protein.  It used to show no evidential reactions - but now that seems to be changing.  I've noticed that when I eat in restaurants and order something involving their deep fryer, my symptoms will be seriously exacerbated.  Does anyone have this experience?  

But the heat of the fryer doesn’t change the gluten protein.  It’s still gluten.  If it changed it somehow - then the batter would not hold together.   When you fry, the temperature is around 325 -365F.  When you bake pizza crust, it’s usually 450-500 ( sometimes more).  The gluten isn’t destroyed in the pizza crust so it certainly isn’t destroyed at 325 degrees

Edited August 16, 2019 by kareng

[kareng]

 

https://www.beyondceliac.org/gluten-free-diet/cross-contact/

 

Can I use the same oil for frying gluten-free items that was used to make gluten-containing fried foods?

The short answer: No, a separate fryer must be used for gluten-free items to avoid cross-contact.

An explanation: Similar to the misconception about using the same water to boil both gluten-containing foods and gluten-free foods, it is also not safe to use the same oil to fry these items. High heat will not eliminate gluten in the oil, so fryers used to make breaded or battered items would not be safe to use for gluten-free French fries, corn tortilla chips or other gluten-free items.