Manufactured In Facility That Processes Oats..?..

[csm170]

My name is Chad, and I am newly diagnosed with celiac disease and I am wondering about food labels.... When a product does not contain wheat, but is says it was manufactured in a facility that processes wheat.. How seriously should I consider that... I don't have alot of the severe and immediate allergic reactions associated with celiac disease, I may not be able to tell right away in that respect. But I have issues with the mal-nutrition of celiac disease...(anemia, nosebleeds, and intense brain fog).. Thanks for any input you can give?

[psawyer]

A shared facility means that somewhere on the property there is wheat. For most products I do not worry about it. In most cases, the wheat is isolated from the product in question. I might be concerned if the facility was a bakery where wheat flour could be airborne and move from room to room in the air, or on people's clothing.

Shared equipment is a greater risk. But before you decide, consider this: If anyone in your house eats gluten products, you probably have shared equipment. You must have a different set of plates, pots, cutlery and a separate stove, cupboard, counter, etc.--in other words two complete and isolated kitchens in order to not have shared equipment.

If you ever eat at a restaurant, that is a shared facility and very likely has some shared equipment. How many dishwashers do they have? Can the knives and forks used for gluten-free food be easily identified so they can be put in the gluten-free dishwasher? Hmmm.

I lived for a number of years in a shared facility with shared equipment. I eat in restaurants that are gluten-free aware.

[T.H.]

From what I've seen, it will be something that you'll find out as you go along. There seems to be a range of sensitivity, with the most sensitive of us avoiding shared facilities and needing a completely gluten free environment at home, and those who are less sensitive doing fine with shared facilities.

I have a family with 5 people who are gluten free. Two of us need gluten free facilities and equipment. We need a gluten free house, without shared pots and pans, or we get sick frequently. Three of us don't require that level of strictness.

Some people go whole hog and avoid it all at first, and then see what they can tolerate after they are well. Some people start at the least restrictive and see if their symptoms resolve, and if they don't, they get even more restrictive.

Myself, I tend to recommend the former plan, considering that there were symptoms I have on gluten that I had no idea WERE symptoms, so I would have thought the diet was working if everything but those symptoms disappeared, you know? going off of it all, though, I was able to find out what my health was like when I was actually fully gluten free, if that makes sense?