Warning - Freak Gluten Contamination In Store.

[ArtGirl]

You won't believe what happened in this store yesterday.

I was selecting various flours in their gluten-free section and noticed a bag of Bob's Red Mill VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN! It was located directly in front of the Xan. gum packages.

At first I thought someone had stocked it in the wrong place, it was a BRM brand. (But, apparently, some other customer had placed it on the shelf there.) I pointed it out to a passing clerk, who picked it up to remove it.

Then the unthinkable happened. There was a slit in the celophane bag and when he grabbed ahold of it, POOF - out came a cloud of the product.

Then he moved his hand and bumped the package on the shelf edge, and POOF - out came a larger cloud of POWDERED GLUTEN! It dusted the shelf and got in the air.

Most of the packaged flours now have a dusting of gluten on them.

And, it glutened me - I had breathed in enough of the dust apparently (fortunately, the longer I'm gluten free the less severe my reaction is, and it was very mild indeed today.)

I called the store manager today and had a very good conversation with him. I told him how important it was for them to do some cleanup - wipe the packages with a damp rag and clean the shelves good. He seemed to understand.... but, one never knows.

I told him I wouldn't be buying any gluten-free product from the shelf there for a while because of the contamination, and that if any Celiac person knew of this, they wouldn't touch the products with a ten-foot-pole.

Anyway, I wanted to warn those on this board who shop at this store.

How freaky is this!

Please note (if you didn't read all of the above) it was NOT the fault of the store or its employees. I'm sure a customer put the package down there when they discovered the slit in the celophane - and they placed it with other BRM products. (Sort of logical.)

[Crimson]

I'm glad you weren't the one to move the package! I'm glad that you feel ok.

[ArtGirl]

I'm glad you weren't the one to move the package! I'm glad that you feel ok.

I wasn't going to touch that package just on the principle of the thing. Yes, I am VERY GLAD. Good grief, it would have been all over me.

[gfjayhawk]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning! I hope they are conscientious about cleaning it all up.