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Contamination From Touching?

runner girl

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runner girl Rookie
runner girl
Posted

Is it ok to touch things with gluten as long as they are not put in the mouth. I was making paper maiche with my daughter and used regular flour. I am hoping this is not a problem. If so, how do you guys deal with cooking "gluten" food for your families?

Thanks in advance

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DebbieInCanada Rookie
DebbieInCanada
Posted
Is it ok to touch things with gluten as long as they are not put in the mouth. I was making paper maiche with my daughter and used regular flour. I am hoping this is not a problem. If so, how do you guys deal with cooking "gluten" food for your families?

Thanks in advance

I think this varies from person to person, and it depends how sick you are, and how you are reacting. I don't react to touching flour. I bake bread for my family every week, and I don't react. I use a bread maker, so I'm not in it up to my elbows... ;)

But I believe some people here are very sensitive, and would get very sick from having flour on their hands.

Hope you dont' have a bad reaction...

Debbie

mellajane Explorer
mellajane
Posted

Im gonna say it depends on how sensitive you are. I have been sick since I was 7. I am now 30 and 3 years gluten free. Recently I was helping my neighbor bake and we were useing flour. I got very sick the next day..I was kinda shocked but I will definitly play it safe always.All my products I use such as shampoos, perfumes lotions have to be wheat free. I am very sensitive.

Abug Rookie
Abug
Posted

I agree, I discovered the hard way that I can't work at a restaurant without being constantly sick, no matter how careful I am. I finally had to move out to my own apartment (still living here, but attempting to buy a house at the moment) because I couldn't get any support from my family to help prevent cross-contamination. My advice would be, if you can handle touching it, you should still wash up at every opportunity to be sure it never gets near your face, and be careful not to have an accident that might send it flying into your mouth ;)

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

Most people don't have a reaction from just touching gluten, although some do. The problem comes from the gluten on your hands making its way into your mouth. Which is easier than you might think.

Back when I was the only gluten-free person in my house, I had given my kids a handful of goldfish crackers and didn't wash my hands afterward. I was in the habit of washing my hands only before I ate or else I'd be washing my hands all day with three gluten-eaters in the house. So I didn't even think about it until after I put my fingers in my mouth to get a piece of fuzz off my tongue. Sick for three days. :rolleyes:

If you're doing a lot of baking with flour flying everywhere and being airborne, when you breathe you can easily get it into your mouth. If you're being careful not to get too wild with the flour you should be okay.

Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands and work surfaces afterwards.

A good way to explain how to deal with cross contamination, traces etc., is to treat anything gluten like it's raw chicken (with all the possible salmonella contamination). Just stay aware of where your work surfaces are, keep things as contained as you can, and wash your hands, surfaces and tools.

Nancy

zansu Rookie
zansu
Posted

Also, remember that breathing in flour IS ingesting it. The sinuses produce mucus to clean themselves and that drains into the stomach taking the flour with it. So, if you mixed the paper mache paste without a mask on, you probably got some in your system.

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted
how do you guys deal with cooking "gluten" food for your families?

I don't cook gluten for my family. :P Everyone can eat plenty of gluten outside the home, but here, I feed them all gluten-free. I've found substitutes for everything I made before, so it's not hard. Most dinner food seems to be naturally gluten-free anyway, and everyone loves the Tinkyada Pasta -- it tastes the same as regular pasta and holds up better in recipes.

I may serve buns for burgers, but only in the summer months when we're eating outside on paper plates.

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