Confused About What Is 'safe'

[Helena]

I don't react to small amounts of gluten (although my villi might feel differently), so I'm not sure how to go about determining what is on my safe list and what is not. I'm hoping to get a sense of what guidelines others follow.

I'm informed about what counts as "gluten" in ingredients---"flavour," hydrolysed vegetable protein, etc., and about the perils of eating out . . . My question is more about what you feel constitutes "safe" manufacturing practices.

Do you inquire about the possibility of cross contamination? If it is a possibility, would you buy something if a company says that they clean the line thoroughly and take precautions about containing dust from wheat flour (one company I contacted has heavy curtains around the area where they mill wheat flour)?

What about if it is on a dedicated gluten free line but the plant also manufactures gluten-containing grains?

How about if a company produces whole grains containing gluten, but does not manufacture flour (I'm thinking here of a company that packages rice as well as barley. I'm not sure about their manufacturing practices---I haven't managed to find their contact info.)

Do you rely on your symptoms to determine what is safe for you? Am I worrying about all this too much?

[CarlaB]

I usually buy things made in a wheat-free facility, but will buy something that is not if I have heard that people on this forum have had good luck with a product. A little gluten makes me very ill, so I'm very careful.

[Helena]

Thanks for the advice. There's one product in particular that I really really want to continue eating--I eat millet processed by Oak Manor (a Canadian company), but I should probably give it up because they also mill wheat flour. (I would buy Bob's Red Mill millet if it weren't for the fact that their products aren't safe for people with severe tree nut allergies.) Since the only grains I can eat are: rice, millet, and tapioca, and tapioca isn't all that nutritious, millet is important to me nutritionally. I'm also concerned about eating rice *all* the time . . . if I develop an intolerance to rice I'm sunk!

I'm also hoping to continue to eat Nupack rice because I can buy it in large bags and cut down on costs . . . but they also package barley so I don't know.

I can deal with avoiding gluten-containing foods. But the cross contamination issues are really getting to me!