Question About Cross Contamination

[alamaz]

Hi- I'm new here! Just diagnosed this week although I self diagnosed myself about a year ago and had reduced the amount of grains I was eating. Obviously now, I need to eliminate them completely. I have a question about cross contamination. How does that work? So I get the toaster thing but say, this morning I brushed crumbs off the counter from my husbands dinner last night. Is that bad? How worried do you have to be about CC? What about just cooking - do I need to buy all new dishes and cook ware? I'm so confused! HELP! Edited to add: how in the world do you take a family vacation??? we have a vacation planned for the end of April and I'm worried I won't know what to eat/do while away!

Amy

[celiacgirls]

I think you do have to be pretty concerned about cc. I say this as someone who didn't think I had any symptoms to gluten when I started and thought I surely wouldn't notice a few crumbs in my food. All of my glutenings since then have been from cc, probably even less than a few crumbs.

My kitchen is mostly gluten-free. If I wiped crumbs with gluten off the counter, I would rinse the washcloth thoroughly and then launder it before using it again. I would wash my hands before doing anything else.

I didn't buy new dishes or pans. I did buy a new colander for gluten-free pasta.

We are taking a vacation in March to visit family. They have told me I can make the kitchen my own. My plan is to bring food for the car trip out there and cook while I am there. If we have to eat out, we will go to a gluten-free friendly restaurant like Outback. This is our first long car trip since going gluten-free so I don't really have it down yet. There are quite a few restaurants that have gluten-free food. I'm just not willing to eat at them for the whole trip because of the cc issue.

Food is definitely a factor in our vacations now. We're doing our second cruise this summer because the cruise lines are usually good about special diets. We're going to Disney World because they also are known for doing a good job with diet restrictions. If it were just me, I could be more flexible and get by with fruit if I had to but with kids along, I need to make sure they have something safe to eat.

[johnsoniu]

If you share a kitchen, CC will definately be an issue. The level of risk depends on how many and how careful everyone is. I know my 2 daughters(14 and 9) love me to pieces, but breadcrumbs,spilled cereal, etc. are always on the counter. Additionally, since they are suppossed to do the dishes, I constantly have to remind them how thorough they must be. Your own toaster, colander, pizza stone, any wooden spatulas, cutting board, and wok I would definately recommend. If your pans are metal, new ones might be a good idea due to scratching issues, teflon and stick-free should be ok, but it's ultimately up to you. I did get new pots because there was simply no way I could use a pot without visualizing the 2000 boxes of Mac&Cheese that had been cooked in there

Vacation will require a little planning and research. All depends on where you're going. They have a travel forum here, so you can get some great info there as well as the restaurant folder, which will give you some gluten-free friendly dinng options in the area you're headed. Can't over-emphasize planning and research enough, but it will make for a much more enjoyable experience.

Good luck and welcome!

John