May Contain Traces Of Sickness

[ErraticBinxie]

I work at a seafood restuarant as a waitress and I often have people come in that have celiac disease and ask me what they can eat. I pretty much know all of the ingredients in salad dressings, sauces etc.

A few weeks ago, I told this mom (who's very young child has celiac disease) that the only dressings we have that are gluten-free are thousand island, italian, etc. She argues with me telling me that our ranch dressing is gluten-free. I was angry that she would fight with me. I told her that we use Hidden Valley that contains Modified food starch. She insisted it was made from corn and so I brought it to her anyways.

Later that night after I had clocked out, I decided to trust her and reunite with the best salad dressing of all time. I regretted it later.

I called the company to find out if Hidden Valley ranch is gluten-free. They said it is but it is produced in the same facility as things that do contain gluten so it may contain traces of gluten. That is enough to drive me away. I don't see a point in ever risking it when things "may contain traces."

But it made me wonder about this mom. Is she being responsible in the food that she is feeding her very small son? He can't advocate for himself and if she doesn't watch what he eats closely then who will?

I want to know what you all think. Do you risk it when it "may contain traces of" or "is produced in the same facility as"?

[Guest ~jules~]

Nope if its made on the same equipment thats making gluteny things I don't eat it....I don't see the difference, if 1 little molecule of gluten is the same as 10,000, then what is the difference if its made on the same equipment?

[hez]

For me this is not a easy black and white issue. It really depends on the food and the company that produced it. I am sure for some this is a no brainer but for me it just depends.

For example, my nut thins have a legal statement about being produced in the same facility. However, other people have posted that they contacted the company and that the lines are sepearate. I have never had a problem with them. Others have. Each of us has to decide these things for themselves. And in the case of children it is up to the parent to make that judgement call. For this parent a shared facility was not an issue. For other parents it is an issue.

Hez

[Corkdarrr]

I agree with Hez. I think it is company specific and it can even be specific to that particular production of the product. I've eaten things that clearly are labelled they are produced in facilities containing gluten and been fine. And I've had things with the same warning and I've gotten ill.

It probably depends on how thoroughly they clean the line before and after running production.

As for the whole parental thing, I suppose that's the parent's decision to make until the child is old enough to know what's going on. I hope she's not messin' her kid up...

Although I do find it hard to believe that someone eating out at a restaurant would actually question a server so knowledgable about gluten and celiacs...I think most of us are just impressed if our plate doesn't come out with the standard issue roll on it!

-Courtney

[ravenwoodglass]

I don't see a point in ever risking it when things "may contain traces."

But it made me wonder about this mom. Is she being responsible in the food that she is feeding her very small son? He can't advocate for himself and if she doesn't watch what he eats closely then who will?

I want to know what you all think. Do you risk it when it "may contain traces of" or "is produced in the same facility as"?

No she is not being responsible. Although I would prefer to think that she is just uneducated. Did you tell her that you are also celiac and know this isn't safe? As far as ignoring a CYA statement, every so often I will risk it and usually regret it.

[2Boys4Me]

My younger son is the only one in our family with celiac and he has no outward symptoms. That is, he never spends all day in the bathroom or has stomachaches. I will buy products for him that have no gluten-containing ingredients (items from Kraft, ConAgra, Hershey, etc.) including products that say "made in the same facility as wheat products." I will NOT buy anything that says "may contain traces of wheat." To me "may contain" is a red flag but the "produced in" is a CYA. I am sure they are very careful cleaning lines if they don't have dedicated lines, and I think some companies toss the first few items off the line just in case.

By the way I thought that since the U.S.'s new labelling law all modified food starch had to be corn unless otherwise specified.

[psawyer]

I agree with Linda. There is only so far you can go unless you are prepared to live inside a bubble.

The woman was eating in a restaurant. Surely the CC risk in doing that is at least as great as it is in a prepared food manufactured on clean lines from ingredients which do not contain gluten. She apparently knew that the modified food starch in the product in question was corn (as it almost always is). I don't find any fault at all in her actions.

If cross-contamination in a food prepared in a shared facility worries you, you should not even think about eating in a restaurant!

[elonwy]

To me there is a difference in the following statements:

Prepared on shared lines: NOT okay

May contain traces: NOT okay

In the same facility: Maybe, I'll try it if its a trusted company.

If it was my kind though, and not me, I'd probably be much mroe protective than I am of myself. That's just speculative, since I don't have any yet.

Elonwy

[Saz]

As I'm not super sensitive I don't worry if it says it has been prepared on the same line. I have on occasion put things back that say May contain traces of wheat but again not an enormous issue for me.

[sillyyak]

I do NOT risk it when it says "may contain traces of....." Only because I know what would happen if the traces would get into my system.. For me, it is not worth it.

[Matilda]

..

[Lillyth]

I work at a seafood restuarant as a waitress and I often have people come in that have celiac disease and ask me what they can eat. I pretty much know all of the ingredients in salad dressings, sauces etc.

A few weeks ago, I told this mom (who's very young child has celiac disease) that the only dressings we have that are gluten-free are thousand island, italian, etc. She argues with me telling me that our ranch dressing is gluten-free. I was angry that she would fight with me. I told her that we use Hidden Valley that contains Modified food starch. She insisted it was made from corn and so I brought it to her anyways.

Later that night after I had clocked out, I decided to trust her and reunite with the best salad dressing of all time. I regretted it later.

I called the company to find out if Hidden Valley ranch is gluten-free. They said it is but it is produced in the same facility as things that do contain gluten so it may contain traces of gluten. That is enough to drive me away. I don't see a point in ever risking it when things "may contain traces."

But it made me wonder about this mom. Is she being responsible in the food that she is feeding her very small son? He can't advocate for himself and if she doesn't watch what he eats closely then who will?

I want to know what you all think. Do you risk it when it "may contain traces of" or "is produced in the same facility as"?

My two cents: No, the mother was NOT being responsible.

I have been in a facility, personally, that says they use dedicated equipment for wheat & corn. All the equipment is wood, which, as we know, retains gluten. When I was witnessing the milling process, wheat flour was EVERYWHERE!!!!! The mills were one foot apart. I had a hard time even being in the room. They actually advised me to keep a wet papertowel over my face to keep the wheat flour out of my mucous membranes (which I appreciated).

It made me thing though, that the wood equipment, which was one foot away from the mill, MUST be getting wheat flour on it - I was in the back of the room, and had problems.

That being said, I know of at least one facility that uses only stainless steel for all production. It IS a shared facility, but they DO clean everything in between processing, and NEVER process more than one product at a time.

So - in short, some facilities may be safe, while others are not.

I think it is either trial & error, or "russian roulette" every so often.

I don't have a hard & fast rule, sometimes I go one way, sometimes the other.

But I DO keep note of which mfrs are on my "safe" list, and which are on my "no-way-in-hell-not-ever-not-even-if-i-were-starving" list...