Need Dedicated Gluten Free Facility

[ChristyL]

My daughter, Emma, was diagnosed at 18 months. She is now 20 months. Through trial and error (lots of error) I have come to the realization that it is not enough for a product to be labeled Gluten Free. She has a reaction unless the food is produced in a dedicated gluten free facility. Our nutritionist told us we did not have to worry about a dedicated facility but I have heard from other people with Celiacs that they have found this to be necessary as well. Has anyone else experienced this? She lost a lot of weight before being diagnosed and we are still trying to plump her up. She wants to snack all the time. Any snack suggestions (keeping in mind the dedicated facility issue)? I give her fruit, veggies and cheese but she's really picky. She will only eat strawberries and only cheese that is shredded which is tough to take places.

[dilettantesteph]

I also needed a dedicated facility, and so did my son. As time progressed we got more sensitive and now we can't eat very many processed foods at all. Do you have a gluten free household? If she needs a dedicated facility, she may need that too. Have you tried apple slices for a snack? Clementine oranges?

[kareng]

When M was little, he only like his cheese and carrots shredded. Just put them in a baggie. A little messy to eat. Will need a place to sit the shredded stuf down in a little bowl. Maybe sit on a bench with you or in stroller & you hold the bowl?

Will she eat cold cuts? She could hold those. They are kinda salty so she may like that. Have you tried Chex? The gluten-free ones are made at a different place than the non gluten-free ones.

When my boys were that age, they would eat it if it was on Uncle's plate or another teen boy or man that isn't Dad. Maybe a little bit older girl would sit with her and eat sliced apples or gluten-free crackers. My really picky eater at home, ate all kinds of things at Daycare cause the older boy or the dad were eating them. After a few times eating it at day care, I would give it to him at home.

You may be dealing with a texture issue, too. My youngest wouldn't eat mushy. No baby food for him! She may prefer mushy to crunchy. I found most things can be cut up tiny for no teeth.

Good luck! I have heard that you have to put something on the plate 3 times before some kids will consider it.

[T.H.]

Both my daughter and I have reached the point where we have to have a dedicated facility, too. Essentially, it seems that some of us react to lower ppm of gluten than others, and a gluten-free facility simply makes it more likely that the food has low enough gluten. My family just finished figuring this all out over the last few months, so I'll pass on the one thing that we found out that might be of use: not all gluten-free facilities are created equal.

Some test every batch of product coming out of the facility and every ingredient coming into the facility. Some only test one or the other. Some test only every few batches.

And what level of gluten they test for differs, too. Usually, in the USA, they test for the gluten level to be either below 20ppm, 10ppm or 5ppm.

In all honesty, if we hadn't called the companies, I don't believe we would have figured out just how sensitive my daughter was, but when she's eating a food that was tested for a certain level of gluten and gets sick - and that's ALL she ate - the picture becomes a lot clearer. It's much easier when you can say: my daughter needs to have food that is below this many ppm of gluten.

Re: snacks: have you tried to make her any crackers? If you get a gluten-free flour, an oil, water, and salt, you can roll them really thin, right on the cookie pan, and bake it into a cracker. Amaranth flour has worked well for this with us. Teff works well too - tastes good with maple or peanutbutter added, too - but it's a bit more crumbly. You could add whatever you liked to it.