Cross Contamination

[Aizlynn]

Hi again. I am new to all of this and may be posting many items as I have soooo many questions on being Gluten Free. I thought I was doing all the right things by reading labels, but that does not see to do the trick. I read on a few threads about cross contamination (cc) about people throwing out dishes, kitchen wares, shampoo etc. I am confused if this is just for those with serious sensitivites or is this just playing on the safe side? Can you just steralize your kitchen items with hot water? Is my shampoo really messing with my stomach? If I touch bread when I make my daughter a PB&J sandwhich will I get glutened?? When I am in the workplace or a friends house and they eat gluten will I "catch" the gluten by being in their kitchen? I know this sounds weird, any maybe naive, but I am trying to get all the data I can. I have gotten to the point that I almost fear eating food or being in a grocery store! Also, when I read labels that do not list any gluten derivitives, how do I know they were not made in a facility with gluten. For example, I shop at trader joes and purchase their brands. I have been eating the Quaker Oats rice cakes, they did not list gluten ( I thought rice was safe) but the posts I have read give me further confusion. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of things!

Also, what about soy? Is soy a gluten item or just another hi alergy item? Soy in some sort seems to be in every darn thing, from soy lechtin, soy bean oil etc. I know soy sauce is bad, so I am glad I found a gluten free soysauce that tastes yummy. any advice? thank you all for your patience.

[BRUMI1968]

As to Cross Contamination (cc) -- I've found that bread products in my kitchen are a bit tricky, because of the crumbs. I decided to go gluten-free in the household, except for beer, which is easy to keep track of, and pizza from the parlor. With the pizza - after they eat it, they scrub their dishes in our laundry room sink, and then put them in the dishwasher. It seems to me that sponges would grab the crumbs and keep some gluten on its surface. Then I wash the place mats and the table cloth, so that I don't accidentally get crumbs in my food.

I'd say big deals are:

toaster

cutting boards (gluten gets stuck in the cuts)

plastic tupperware stuff (gluten gets stuck in the cuts)

old teflon with cuts (same as above)

I think I've been doing better since the house has gone gluten free. But I don't have kids - so it is only my dh and friends that I have to convince to be good. Sometimes they bring in ice cream with gluten, and I just make them do the dishes in the laundry room. So far, so good.

As to oats: the oats available in America are apparently all contimated with gluten. There are brands of oats now that do not have gluten - and European brands MIGHT be safe, I'm not sure.

Everyone has different sensitivities. If you eat tortilla chips made on a machine that made flour-based tortillas as well, or somethign like that, there could be gluten left on the machine that is getting into your food. Some folks will notice it, others won't. As to whether or not those small doses are hurting you - that is hotly debated as well.

I TEND to not buy anything that is made in a factory that also produces wheat.

Soy is gluten free, but is probably not too good for us in any quantity. Folks that are allergic to soy (top allergins are wheat, soy, dairy, and corn) are plentiful. I don't eat it, not because of allergies but because of some nasty stuff I read about it (see drmercola.com), but others think that it is good for your - once again, big debate here.

I hope I helped a little bit. It is confusing to get started. And the CC issue is a HUGE one -- it is why I rarely eat out.

Good luck to you. Take care. -Sherri

[BRUMI1968]

Oh yeah, as to touching your daughter's bread -- I'd definitely wash my hands before eating my own food. YOu certainly could be digesting gluten in that way.

You can't absorb it through your fingers, so washing your hands should suffice. Make sure you wash your hands with gluten-free soap - and check out your dishsoap for having gluten.

[blueeyedmanda]

Cross Contamination is a way people still get sick after going gluten-free without knowing it.

Toasters are a big concern. You can either get one especially for you or those new toaster bags. One of my celiac friends loves them. I have not tried them yet.

Cutting Boards-I cut on plates so I cannot really comment on this too much.

Shampoos, conditioners--you can get it in your mouth but for me it made my scalp itch..so I switched.

I still have the same plates in my house, I just wash very well before dishwashing. My fiance is not gluten free but we just keep everything seperate. Lucky for me (lucky in some instances I guess) he is a neat freak so he is always cleaning things repeatedly.

It gets easier believe me. I know its overwhelming but once you start getting it down it becomes second nature. It is a very eye-opening experience.

[zachsmom]

yeah but you can eat somethign that you think is safe...

and forgoet to look over at the SHARED EQUIPTMENT WARNING ANd get sick form that type of cross comtaimination also.....

I was told by my doctors ( nurse pract... ) who is a CELIAC .. that she gets more sick by this than most people she ... must be more sensitive than my son and some of her patients..... But she says that the food that is made on shared equipment is worse because the food is imbedded with the wheat or opposing allergin....

She cannot eat boars head turkey.... my son can. he has not ever gotten sick . its one of the things he can enjoy... he does not vomit... she vomits. its labled gluten free ,,, but cut on shared equiptment./??

This also falls under the outback posting of cesar salad making folks sick because some how the salad was mixed in a bowl that previously had a "regular salad " in it a few seconds before.

My favorite is walking into WHOLE FOOD IN SARASOTA fla and walking up to the BULK ASILE And seeing BROWN RICE FLOUR sitting withthe BIN OPEN places directly next to THE WHOLE WHEAT PASTRY DOUGH>>>> talk bout some vomiting happening ...

[angelbender]

Yikes! I'm a newbie here, just got registered and am a bit overwhelmed. I don't know if there are any posting rules, other than no abuse and basic respect so here goes. I am responding to the original poster of this topic, Aizlynn......I contacted Quaker Oats last month after spending alot of time in my "office" (the bathroom!) and was told regarding their rice cakes and any other Quaker Oats products, "The only thing that we can tell you that we produce that is gluten free is Aunt Jemima Syrup." The woman said that they couldn't confirm how the rice they obtained had been processed or with what other items. How's that for some honesty? I actually got to this forum because I googled "gluten free make up." I have to now check all of that out.......I wasn't thinking of hairspray, yikes! And all of my body products have to be salicylate-free too, due to my treatment for Fibromyalgia, so that makes things even more difficult.......almost impossible to find a lipstick that I can use.

[Jestgar]

It does pay to be careful, but you can approach these things with some thought.

Oats and wheat are grown under the same conditions, and therefor wheat could be growing in the oat field, that's why it's contaminated. But rice has very unique growing conditions and so it's unlikely that it would be contaminated.

Made in a wheat containing factory could mean a huge complex where the different products are separated by many rooms and much distance, or it could mean the products are made in adjoining rooms with people walking back and forth.

shared equipment warning means you're at the mercy of the cleaning crew.

starting out completely paranoid is probably a good approach, but as you get better at the gluten-free lifestyle and recognizing your gluten reaction you can start adding back things that have a high probability of being safe.

[Viola 1]

I never use anything from bulk food bins. It's too easy for a scoop to be carried from a gluten source to a non-gluten item.

I have my own toaster, use paper towels in the micro and plates or paper towels down on the counter when I fix my food. However, I don't have separate dishes, pots etc. I just wash them well.

Because I was diagnosed before we could get a computer out here, and when there were no other Celiacs in the area, I didn't know about things like shampoos, laundry soap, dish soap, etc. and so never checked mine.

I did learn about lipstick and make-up by trail and error.

However, I still don't worry about shampoos etc, because I have never had a problem with any of them. Now I might have accidently lucked out on the ones I use, as I've never checked them. So, I think that's a personal call, on how careful you are when you shower etc.

As we live out in the country and are on creek water, it's probably far more dangerous for us to get water in our mouths than any gluten from a shampoo, so we are very careful

It's a big learning curve this diet, so do the best you can and learn from any mistakes. There will be some for sure, and no matter how long you are at it, there will be cross contamination issues popping up.

[zansu]

you won't get glutened by being near people eating gluten, but if there's flour in the air and it gets in your sinuses, it will get into your digestive track (where your sinuses drain). Once again, a little -- probably no problem. Make the mistake of baking and breathing in the dust -- big problem.

[Aizlynn]

Thank you all for the great comments, just after a week of reading information here I have become much more educated in the daily life and have started to feel less frightened of food I actually visited an asian market today and found many of the flour/tapioca startches/flours at a VERY fair price ($.79 vs $$3.00) and finally found the rice spring roll wrappers, guess who is making "egg" rolls this weekend!@

[mikeanway]

I have just been diagnosed as recently as last Friday March 2 2007. I have been reading a lot info online and of labels which I do anyway being vegetarian. I noticed in Trader Joe's they have a lot of products I could use but are "made in factories which also process soy, WHEAT.nuts and milk products. What the I can't understand why they would do this.

I will not use any products labeled in this way. They will lose a lot of sales ,manufacturing this way, I believe. At least by me I will not take the chance. I have seen many other products labeled the same from Amy's kitchen,these are also on my do not buy list. These manufacturers really need to get it together in my opinion. There are so many potential customers available to them( 2 million), but will not buy for the chance of cross contamination.