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Glutened By The Smell Of Flour, In The Flour Isle At The Store


Rick45

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Rick45 Rookie

Last week on vacation camping at New Port Dunes, I started getting a migraine, no energy, bad gut, it was a strong glutenin. I had to load up on medication and caffeine ,so I would not miss Disney Land with my son, Just like old times! My choices for the source of gluten are smelling the flour as I walked down the baking isle in the store, or the barbeques in other camping sites with charcoal. I was down wind with a nice breeze.


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jkmunchkin Rising Star

I'm gonna guess it was the bbq. I've never heard of anyone being glutened by smelling flour. Not unless you started licking the bag ;)

blueeyedmanda Community Regular

I have walked through the bakery many times and have not had a problem.

modiddly16 Enthusiast

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get glutened by smelling gluten...or dreaming about eating Krispy Kreme donuts...I myself have asked about this!

angel-jd1 Community Regular
I'm gonna guess it was the bbq. I've never heard of anyone being glutened by smelling flour. Not unless you started licking the bag ;)

I've never heard of anyone getting glutened by the smell of bbq or the smell of flour. It has made me nauseous, but not "glutened". Possibly you have a stomach bug or another food intollerance??

-Jessica :rolleyes:

gfpaperdoll Rookie

I once got sick walking by the bakery section, they must have been doing something with the flour as I walked by, I did not realize it until 15 minutes later when my stomach ache started happening. I have been wheat free for mostly 10 years & now totally gluten-free for 3 years so that is a total of 13 years, so some of these other people that it has not happened to might experience it later.

& then some people do not, I think it is those people that continuously get a little gluten in the replacement gluten-free things that they eat. for instance I cannot eat Diamond Nut Thins - will give me a gluttening every time. But people in my support group eat them & all the other stuff that I cannot eat. So I think if you are mostly grain free & live in a gluten-free house then your chances of being super sensitive are much greater.

there have been other threads on other boards about this same thing. There seems to be a lot of newbies on here that really have not "experienced it all yet" & seem to have a closed mind to other people's suffering.

Now I walk into the grocery store on the opposite side of the bakery & just bypass that section altogether. & if I happen to be going down the baking aisle & they are unloading flour bags - I run to the check out stand. because when they are bagging the shelves & throwing those flour bags you can see the flour poofing all over the place.

jerseyangel Proficient

I'm thinking that if there was flour in the air--from a bag breaking, or a bag that was partially opened and moved around, you would inhale some and get sick that way.

I don't have a completely gluten-free house (husband and son), but I don't keep any wheat flour or "regular" dry baking mixes at all in my kitchen because of this.


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modiddly16 Enthusiast
I once got sick walking by the bakery section, they must have been doing something with the flour as I walked by, I did not realize it until 15 minutes later when my stomach ache started happening. I have been wheat free for mostly 10 years & now totally gluten-free for 3 years so that is a total of 13 years, so some of these other people that it has not happened to might experience it later.

& then some people do not, I think it is those people that continuously get a little gluten in the replacement gluten-free things that they eat. for instance I cannot eat Diamond Nut Thins - will give me a gluttening every time. But people in my support group eat them & all the other stuff that I cannot eat. So I think if you are mostly grain free & live in a gluten-free house then your chances of being super sensitive are much greater.

there have been other threads on other boards about this same thing. There seems to be a lot of newbies on here that really have not "experienced it all yet" & seem to have a closed mind to other people's suffering.

Now I walk into the grocery store on the opposite side of the bakery & just bypass that section altogether. & if I happen to be going down the baking aisle & they are unloading flour bags - I run to the check out stand. because when they are bagging the shelves & throwing those flour bags you can see the flour poofing all over the place.

I'm hoping that this isn't a direct blow to the people that were offering help and suggestions to the initial poster. Just because I have not been on this bored as long as you does not mean that I am not experienced, I just have never heard of anyone getting glutened by breathing air before, such as the fumes from a BBQ or walking by a bakery. Surely, if you're in the same proximity as a bag of flour that explodes and you walk through it or it gets on you, then there could more than likely be a problem. But perhabs there was something consumed while camping out that you ate that maybe was not gluten-free. Sure, more people are more sensitive than others, but I don't believe anyone on this particular post was being closed minded to anyone elses suffering.

Gentleheart Enthusiast

It is not as likely that we would be glutened by a mere odor or aroma. But walking down the grocery store flour aisle is somethng else entirely. Flour dust can easily remain suspended in the air for quite awhile from the shelf just being freshly stocked or customers dragging the bags across the shelf and into their carts. Little poufs fly everywhere. If you just happen to show up right after that, there can be actual physical particles of wheat flour still floating in the air. One good, unsuspecting whiff by you and it gets into the mucous of your nasal passages where it can eventually progress to your throat and be swallowed in the natural scheme of things. Viola! You've just 'eaten' gluten. If you're one of the sensitive ones, even that small amount could cause a reaction. If you breathe with your mouth open, it's even more likely. I make it a practice to either avoid that aisle or kind of cover my nose in my sleeve. I don't make a big deal out of it, but I choose to be safe rather than sorry.

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