Catering Hall Brunch

[mela14]

Has anyone just given up on eating out?

I thought I did everthing right and still got sick.

I called ahead to the catering hall.........the hostess spoke with the manager and had plain grilled chicken and eggplant and a salad of baby greens..no dressing.

20 mintues after I finished my food I started to feel sick. All the typical gluten reactions for me. Muscle pain, light headed, stomach pain, eventualluy bloating.

I think I am at the point that I should just not eat in restaraunts...especially catering halls. I have had some good restaraunt experiences but not enough to have them outweigh the bad. I did everything I thought would help me to prevent getting sick...short of stand there and watch them prepare it..........and still got gluten. The party was fun and I just wanted to spend time with old friends like we used to.....and not be the poor pathetic sick one. At first I got all the..."my god....you make me sick...you are so skinny".......I'm sure a lot of you have been there...I would love to trade place with someone who is a little heavier and can eat whatever they want. Being this thin is NOT worth the pain I go through. I guess some people are clueless.......

Anway, the salad was great. The chicken was fresh and grilled with nothing on it. the same for the fresh eggplant. Neither had a drop of anything on them. My friend went to lengthy measures to make sure there was something at the brunch for me to eat. The only thing that I could think of is cross contamination. There were plenty of dishes that use flour for cooking.....especially their other chicken dishes. I'm sure that the meat was placed on the same table as all the other stuff.

I even took nuts and a banana just in case I wanted something else......(I ate the nuts for desert!)

Is it time to give up eating out? Or at least catering halls?

I am finally realizing that I am more sensitive than I thought...or wanted to accept. It's now been 5 months that I am gluten-free and although I am happy I finally found out what is going on...It is SO very hard to get it right! I am frustrated with this whole situation and upset that I am not better at it. I need to learn how to do it better!

[phakephur]

Has anyone just given up on eating out?

Hi Mel,

I totally gave up eating out 2 and a half years ago. I ate out a couple times after diagnosed and didn't get sick, but after reading about all the possible sources of contamination, it just seemed too likely to me that I would get dosed in a restaurant. I regard my good experiences eating out as the product of luck rather than skill in ordering. Emotionally it was easier for me to take the restaurant option off the table rather than go through the litany for ordering and still risk illness. That doesn't seem to be a good choice for most people. A lot of people on this board eat out all the time.

You'll probably get a some advice about how to order when you eat out, even though it sounds like you did everything right. I've been a little frustrated by the advice celiacs tend to give each other regarding the diet. This will probably tick some people off, but I would summarize as follows:

In general, restaurant dining is encouraged because it's assumed that in order to lead a normal life, you need to eat out. Be as careful as you can, but have your Immodium ready when you (inevitably?) get gluten, but that's ok because life is inherently risky.

On the other hand, you will be admonished if you knowingly cheat, even just a little, because "even a tiny bit of gluten can damage you".

And the decision to partake of foods which are "tolerated by some celiacs" but generally recognized to contain some gluten, like oats and some hyperfiltered beers, will fall under the category of personal choice and will be met with neutrality.

What's the difference between getting gluten from plain meat ordered in a restaurant or eating a cookie at the church picnic? Intent. Your brain knows the difference, but your villi don't.

Personally, I think people with food allergy or intolerance don't have any business trying to eat out if they want to avoid being sick. But that's just an opinion, and not one shared by the marjority of people on this board.

The question is how much risk is acceptable to you, and how much control and responsibility are you willing to relinquish to other people. That threshold is different for everybody.

Sarah

[tarnalberry]

I think that eating out, at places that are trained and take the time to become aware about contamination issues, lowers the risk to an acceptable level. If you want to worry about contamination that thoroughly, you'll have to stop buying most gluten-free packaged products as well. :-) But it's always a personal call, and everyone of us has a different level of risk-adversedness.

As for the catering hall... I don't think I'd ever trust one! Not so much because the people making the food can't be trusted, but the sheer mass of food and scarcity of time increases the risk of contamination too greatly for my tastes. It is fabulous that you (mela14) tried, however, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. :-(

[lovegrov]

Everybody has to make choices and I personally respect those choices. But if you decide not to eat out at all, then you also need to consider (if you haven't already) avoiding ALL processed foods. Studies have shown that 20-25 percent of foods that companies thought was gluten-free was not.

I do occasionally take a restaurant chance that I'd rather not when traveling, but mostly I eat at locally owned places with chefs who know what they're doing. It takes some work, but I know some VERY sensitive people who eat out with success 100 percent of the time, but they choose carefully and they don't do it too often.

richard

[ianm]

I won't eat at banquet halls with a large group of people. There is just no way the food can be prepared without the risk of cross contamination because of the sheer volume and limited time. I have only had a few problems with restaurants. I have to eat out because I travel for work frequently. I am not going to hide at home because of a fear of getting glutened. Life comes with all kinds of risks but to lock yourself away to avoid risk is just not living.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

My first 4 years with this disease were up and down. I would have good weeks and bad weeks.

I would slip up (unintentionally and carelessly) snd suffer the consequences. Over time, it gets easier.

I am in year 8 now. I still have to take Dapsone because of DH and every once in a while there are tummy problems, but I have come a long way.

I do not know what the problem with your meal was. Perhaps it was the marinade on the chicken or an unclean grill. Perhaps they marinated your eggplant in soy sauce (common in restaurants -- not just Asian ones)

For catered events, I try to arrive after dinner and eat my own food. It is tough, but my body is more important to me than their poison.

hope you feel better

Bronco

[pixiegirl]

Wow, without a doubt I'd give up catering halls and the like... too difficult to control where the gluten goes.

I agree with whom ever said that each person has to make their own decisions about how to handle these issues. I fall into the catagory of one that refuses to let Celiac run my life... its what I've got and its not a big deal is my attitude.

That being said, eating out is tricky to say the least. I have had mostly good luck in chain resturants that have gluten-free menus. I've had pretty rotten luck in just plain old restaurants and I've had the best luck in fancy, expensive places that have a trained chef. My luck at these sorts of places has been so good in fact that I've never been glutened at one. But I do order my food done plainly at them, simple grilled fish or meat, veggies with no seasoning, and baked potatos... I talk to everyone.. maitre'd, server, often the chef. I insist on it and never has anyone acted like its a hassle. Its usually worth it in my case, I'm with a few people (so it will be a big bill) we always order drinks and/or wine (adds tons to the check) we often order appitizers, dessert and coffee. And I've been known to tip like all get out when everything works out for me. So even with all my issues the local places around here have been very receptive.

I don't eat out as often as I use to BC (before celiac) but I still do and won't let that change.

Good luck, Susan

[plantime]

I don't eat out as often as I used to, nor do I eat just any ole where. Celiac and allergies dictate what I cannot eat, but I still will enjoy as much of life as I can! When my family wants to eat out, they choose a restaurant that I am able to get something to eat at. I have never been to a catering hall, so I don't know what it is like at one of those places. I was at a Christmas party that had a catered meal, though. I was able to safely choose what to eat there, because the chef was standing behind his servers, making sure they did not use utensils in more than one food, and answering questions about the food. He knew exactly what I meant when I told him I had celiac, and he directed me to glutenfree/eggfree foods with no problem. As I was leaving the line, I heard him tell his servers that people like me are why he is so strict about crosscontamination issues: he did not want his food to make someone sick unnecessarily. Whether or not you choose to eat out is strictly up to you. It depends on how well you know the eating establishment, what their reputation is, and how much risk you are comfortable taking.

[macman]

My guess would be the chicken (like a lot of chicken out there!) contained a broth/flavoring which had gluten in it. I am very careful at the grocery store when buying chicken, pork, and certainly brats/sausage.

[tammy]

Hi,

I am so sorry to hear that you did what seemed right to me and still you were sick. I do know how that is soooo frustrating. With that said, I must admit that I decline all catering hall events even from relatives. In the beginning of my gluten-free dietary changes I used to go to the Olive Garden and order Shrimp Primavera without the bread. On two occasions I had NO PROBLEM but this one day, it was a little busy, I found one piece of pasta sitting on my broccoli after I had eaten about half of the meal. Guess what? Yes, I got a reaction. So I decided to not eat at any more Italian Restaurants. I gave up on eating out for awhile and then decided to try our local Best Western Restaurant. I spoke with the waitress and cook about my dietary needs and they were willing to accommodate me but I noticed that after waiting quite awhile, my dinner was served with a sauce all over the meat. And the rice was questionable. I was devastated.. but I spoke to the cook the next day..he apologized a dozen times but explained that both the rice and sauce were prepared with corn starch so I was okay. I learned a lesson, bring a food card, do not order a meal when it is busy unless the menu is made especially for gluten-free needs and it can work. Now, I mainly eat in Indian Restaurants. They cook with a lot less wheat than most American Restaurants. My local diner successfully accommodates me as long as I go through the list of do not do for the waitress and tip her good.