Can Someone Help A Chef!

[kylie77]

I am wondering if someone can just confirm for me if wheat intolerence is the same as gluten intolerence? And can people with this intolerence eat any of the following, pearl barley, bourghal (cracked wheat) and oats? If they can I would also like to know why Hope somone can help, thanks

[momandgirls]

Wheat intolerance means that the person can tolerate other grains, just not wheat. Gluten intolerant people cannot eat wheat, rye, oats or barley. I'm assuming that bourghal is a form of wheat and, therefore, cannot be eaten by someone who is gluten free. Barley and oats are also both not tolerated by people with gluten intolerance. Does this answer your question?

[CarlaB]

A gluten intolerant person could not eat any of the items you mention. There is a gluten-free oat from Europe that some gluten-free people trust, but I personally don't have the courage to try it.

A wheat intolerant person would just be intolerant to wheat ... some celiacs only mention wheat because it covers most issues, so you might want to verify that they are not actually gluten intolerant. Most people know what wheat is, but many, even chefs, don't know what gluten is.

Contamination is a huge problem. You can't use wooden spoons that were used to stir pasta, for example. Cast iron pans and teflon pans can also have gluten from previous uses. You don't even want a crumb to fall onto a gluten intolerant's food as even that can make them ill. Also watch for soy sauce, as most are wheat. Be sure to use separate utensils for the gluten-free food to avoid contamination.

Thanks for caring!

[Nantzie]

First of all, welcome and thank you so much for taking an interest in this. Please ask any questions you have.

I would also like to point out that sometimes people who are gluten intolerant just say wheat because a lot of the time servers in restaurants don't know what gluten is, or they think we mean glucose. Saying you have a wheat allergy seems to get the idea across much easier. If a server doesn't know what gluten is, and you try to explain it, about 10 seconds into the explanation their eyes glaze over and you know you've lost them.

So I would assume that any person who came into your restaurant saying they have a wheat intolerance or a wheat allergy may just be trying to short-hand it. I would ask the person more questions about it. If you ask if the person has a gluten intolerance or just wheat, they'll know that you know there's a difference, and they'll be more comfortable telling you.

If someone is gluten intolerant, they can't have any form of wheat at all. Sometimes there are misinformed people at health food stores that will tell you that spelt, kamut, sprouted wheat, etc are gluten free, but they aren't. Barley and rye also have to be completely avoided, and Malt is made from barley as well.

Oats are debated. Basically, we aren't sure about oats themselves. Oats made in the US are nearly always contaminated with wheat because of where they're processed. Quaker's Oats pretty much may as well be wheat they're so contaminated. They (the scientists) basically haven't figured out whether celiacs are reacting to the wheat contamination in the oats or if it just happens to be that a large percentage of celiacs are also intolerant to oats. What I was told was that if you want to try oats at some point, you should wait for a year of being gluten free before you try to introduce them. And even then, make sure they're not contaminated.

There is a company that makes gluten-free oats - www.glutenfreeoats.com , and there is another brand that I've heard a couple people say they use (which I can't recall). I haven't had any oats since going gluten-free, but will try them again at some point. I'd have to say that I'm leary about it though.

And like other people have pointed out. Cross contamination is the biggest risk we take in eating out anywhere. As odd as it sounds that someone WILL get sick if you use a wooden cutting board for chopping veggies when that cutting board is also used for slicing bread, it's just true. A lot of us here thought that was a little extreme, or rare when we first heard it too. But it's true. And for most of us it's several days worth of being horribly sick that we don't want to risk. So many of us either don't eat out at all, or eat out only rarely.

I'm so glad that you're here asking about all of this. I hope more chefs will stop by and talk with us to find out more about it.

Just like we tell everyone - There are no stupid questions. So ask away!

Hope that helps.

Nancy

[tarnalberry]

I can only echo what others have said with respect to the wheat, barley, and rye issue - all out for celiacs.

Oats are complicated. They are almost universally contaminated with wheat, even McCann's which was previously thought to be 'safe'. There are two or three companies that produce oats that are very carefully kept wheat free, but they are about 2 to 3 times the cost. Outside of that, however, research has shown that around 10% of celiacs react to avenin, the primary oat protein, which is chemically similar to gliandin, the primary wheat protein. The reaction is the classic celiac reaction - same antibody trigger, and same intestinal damage.