Touching Bread And Then Eating

[jesscarmel]

okay maybe im being paranoid but i bought two breadrolls today, my house is gluten free but my parents are coming and i bought it for them to eat in the car on the way back. i forgot i had touched htem and then ate pretzels in the car ride back. i sort of feel weird- like dizzy and my stomach was hurting a bit.

could this be from just touching the bread and hten eating pretzels 10 minutes later???

Jess

[elye]

Unfortunately, it probably could be. Science tells us that it only takes a crumb to do intestinal damage in a celiac. It's the same principle behind the never-pick-the-croutons-out-of-a-salad-and-proceed-to-eat-it. Cross-contamination can seem to happen when things just make contact with one another. Crazy, I know!

[Nantzie]

Yep. Something like that gets me every time. Blech.

If there's more pretzels in that bag, you might want to think about tossing them or giving them to someone who is non-gluten-free.

Sorry you're feeling sick.

Nancy

[RiceGuy]

Absolutely, it can make you sick to touch a gluten-filled product like that and not thoroughly wash your hands afterward. And you're not paranoid either. I'd suggest not touching stuff like that at all, but if ever it must happen I'd be washing my hands as immediately as possible, and without touching anything else I expect to touch at a future time. I see the gluten as being like a germ - and a very bad one at that. Imagine how you'd treat a piece of bread if you knew it was contaminated with something deadly like anthrax or that flesh-eating disease. You'd be taking every possible precaution, right?

[CarlaB]

I assume the pretzels were gluten-free

I do like RiceGuy suggests, I treat it like a germ/poison. It's a really, really bad one as far as my immune system is concerned. If I had just touched rat poison I would certainly wash my hands before eating!

[jerseyangel]

Yes, touching a gluten filled food, and then eating right afterward without washing your hands first would make you sick. And now the whole bag of pretzels would also be contaminated.

I agree with the germ analogy--I treat it like that, too. When I describe CC to others, I tend to use salmonella as an example.

[miles2go]

I have trouble even being near the bread aisle in a grocery store, but everyone's different. It seems the more you stay away from the rat-poison, the more your bod will recognize it as such although it has taken my mind a while to comprehend that. Oy!

[Nantzie]

That's exactly how I deal with it. I deal with gluten the same way I deal with raw chicken. I wash my hands immediately after I touch it, and make sure the things that touch the raw chicken are also thoroughly cleaned. Once I got the hang of that, I didn't get glutened very often.

[jesscarmel]

thanks everyone for writing back. i am normally so cautious, hence my house being gluten free! i geuss i went a bit nutty today..... luckily the bag was the mini glutino snack bags so it was tiny....

i do feel better now...took a reglan and the pain went away..

[Mahee34]

whats reglan? is that like immodium....

I touch non gluten-free food often and I just have becoming boarderling OCD about washing my hands, I'll keep hand sanitizers and handy wipes with me all the time...hey Grandma did it and she's pretty cool!! I'm bringing handy wipes back

[oceangirl]

whats reglan? is that like immodium....

I touch non gluten-free food often and I just have becoming boarderling OCD about washing my hands, I'll keep hand sanitizers and handy wipes with me all the time...hey Grandma did it and she's pretty cool!! I'm bringing handy wipes back

Sorry that happened to you!

speaking of hand sanitizers, I'm trying to find one without Vit E so it's gluten-free. I use them constantly in a room at school where many teenagers bring their gluten-loaded lunches. (Although they're learning probably more than they want to know about gluten-intolerance and DO want to take care of me- hence big, bad angry boys scolding each other for leaving a crumb on the table- pretty funny) But the companies can't guarantee where the Vit E comes from (typically wheat germ or soy) So for now, washing my hands with rubbing alcohol. Again, is cross-contamination possible if the GermX or Purell has gluten in it? Seems so.

lisa

[jesscarmel]

whats reglan? is that like immodium....

I touch non gluten-free food often and I just have becoming boarderling OCD about washing my hands, I'll keep hand sanitizers and handy wipes with me all the time...hey Grandma did it and she's pretty cool!! I'm bringing handy wipes back

reglan is an anti-nausea drug. i dont think that its main purpose but i reacted to compazine and zofran which is apparently not gluten-free anyways. i sort of feel like if it was a gluten reaction i would nt have felt better so quickly??!!

[Ursa Major]

I want to let people who use hand-sanitizers know, that they will NOT get rid of gluten. They will kill germs, but you can't kill gluten, since it isn't alive. You have to wash it off your hands. The wipes are fine, since they're moist and you wipe the gluten off your hands. With hand sanitizers, you just rub it around, but it's still there anyway.

[oceangirl]

I want to let people who use hand-sanitizers know, that they will NOT get rid of gluten. They will kill germs, but you can't kill gluten, since it isn't alive. You have to wash it off your hands. The wipes are fine, since they're moist and you wipe the gluten off your hands. With hand sanitizers, you just rub it around, but it's still there anyway.

Thanks, Ursula,

I don't use the sanitizers for gluten- I use it for germs! Working in a High School gives MUCHO opportunity for infection and it's been proven that washing hands cuts the rate in half. Impossible to actually go wash your hands in the bathroom all the time, hence the hand sanitizers. Thanks, though!

lisa

[bluejeangirl]

whats reglan? is that like immodium....

I touch non gluten-free food often and I just have becoming boarderling OCD about washing my hands, I'll keep hand sanitizers and handy wipes with me all the time...hey Grandma did it and she's pretty cool!! I'm bringing handy wipes back

It might border on OCD but when I'm grocery shopping and I'm touching the handle of the grocery cart commenly infested with bacteria, cold germs, and who knows what I won't even put my hands near my face until I get into my car where I have those wipes and I wipe my hands down.

Not only that but you've touched packaged meats. I would think some of those juices are are also on the outside of the package.

Then you go to pay for your items and your touching money.....hello. I sometimes don't think those wipes are strong enough. I would never eat anything on the way home. I won't even rub my eye and pull a hair out of my mouth. I usually put my groceries away and wash well with hot water and soap. Then I feel safe.

I know its a different world we live in.

Gail

[oceangirl]

It might border on OCD but when I'm grocery shopping and I'm touching the handle of the grocery cart commenly infested with bacteria, cold germs, and who knows what I won't even put my hands near my face until I get into my car where I have those wipes and I wipe my hands down.

Not only that but you've touched packaged meats. I would think some of those juices are are also on the outside of the package.

Then you go to pay for your items and your touching money.....hello. I sometimes don't think those wipes are strong enough. I would never eat anything on the way home. I won't even rub my eye and pull a hair out of my mouth. I usually put my groceries away and wash well with hot water and soap. Then I feel safe.

I know its a different world we live in.

Gail

Gail,

I'm just like you in that regard! And you are SMART! There are several studies that have shown one of the BEST ways to get cold germs is via shopping cart handles. That's why I'm loathe to give up my Germ X or Purell. (All bets are on Purell now- Germ X has no clue where its Vit E comes from.) Take care.

lisa

[jerseyangel]

Gail and Lisa--I'm with the two of you! I wash my hands the minute I walk back into the house no matter where I've been. Doorknobs, ATM machines, the afore mentioned shopping carts, etc...there are germs lurking everywhere--I don't think that the handwashing and not touching your face is excessive--I think it's necessary

[ebrbetty]

reglan is for slow gastric empting problems, I need to take it 30 mins before each meal