Sponges

[Bethany1999]

I have celiac disease but live in a household with others who are not gluten free. What do I have to do in the kitchen to minimize the risk of cross contamination without being tedious and annoying to my family? Some of them arent careful people and therefore probably wont be as careful as I need them to be in order to completely get rid of the risk of cross contamination in the kitchen.

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Bethany1999!

How sensitive to cross contamination are you? Do traces of gluten make you ill? Notice I'm not saying that there is no inflammation happening if you don't get ill but in the real world your reaction threshold my be a starting point.

[Bethany1999]

Just now, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, Bethany1999!

How sensitive to cross contamination are you? Do traces of gluten make you ill? Notice I'm not saying that there is no inflammation happening if you don't get ill but in the real world your reaction threshold my be a starting point.

I honestly don't know how much just traces of gluten affect me since I just started going gluten free.

[trents]

So where are you in the pecking order of the household group? Spouse? Parent? Child? fellow tenant? Dorm mate? How much authority do you have to structure your environment?

Ideally, you should be storing your gluten-free food, pots and pans and cooking utensils in a separate place and use your own washing rags. But I understand what a pain that is. But I must also say we have had many stories like yours on this forum where a celiac was living together with uncaring others. It's a tough spot but you have to be assertive.

[Bethany1999]

16 minutes ago, trents said:

So where are you in the pecking order of the household group? Spouse? Parent? Child? fellow tenant? Dorm mate? How much authority do you have to structure your environment?

Ideally, you should be storing your gluten-free food, pots and pans and cooking utensils in a separate place and use your own washing rags. But I understand what a pain that is. But I must also say we have had many stories like yours on this forum where a celiac was living together with uncaring others. It's a tough spot but you have to be assertive.

I live with my parents and brother. They're all at least mostly cooperative, but one would not be capable of assisting me in maintaining a gluten-free environment .

[trents]

"Mostly cooperative" is going to regularly get you glutened and prevent full healing of the damaged villi in your small bowel. You must take it upon yourself to see that it doesn't happen. Do you have an area of the kitchen or in your bedroom where you could store stuff? As far as dishes and utensils, get in the habit of inspecting them before you use them in your food to make sure they were cleaned thoroughly. The only problem with cookware tends to be porous stuff like cast iron skillets. Above all, don't use the same toaster as your other family members. Oven racks and toaster oven racks can be quite problematic.

Edited April 8, 2022 by trents

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum! This article may help you, and it has a GF Kitchen section in it: