Worried About The Fish Counter?

[shopgirl]

Help me, gluten-free-ers. I had a fit of paranoia at the fish counter this morning — picking up my bi-weekly serving of fresh fish. The woman in front of me asked for a kind of fish that was breaded in Ritz crackers and it made me realize that I had never asked the counter person to change their gloves before. So I asked the counter woman to change her gloves, which she did, before handling my scallops.

But as I was walking out of the store, I started worrying about all the contamination possibilities — what if they don't change their gloves when they're handling the breaded stuff before the unbreaded stuff? What if they don't change their gloves before they serve me? What if they drop one of the breaded things on my stuff?

Am I worrying over nothing? I have this little container of scallops that I'm not sure if I should eat, return, or dump. I wash all my fish before I cook it. I hate to cut out yet another food from my diet but I don't like the idea that I could be contaminating myself twice a week or so by eating what, I had assumed, was pure, fresh fish. And I really, really hate that I could be so paranoid over this. I haven't had an obvious reaction to the fish yet but I don't know what my reactions even are.

What to do, Celiac forum? What to do?

[etta694]

Is there any chance you could give them some info? Surely you are not the only gluten free customer... they could benefit from knowing about the cc issues and about gluten issues too. What do you think? Could you approach them?

[shopgirl]

I don't mind attempting to educate them but I want to know if I should eat fish from a fish counter.

Surely I'm not the only Celiac who buys fresh fish at the grocery store?

[IrishHeart]

I watch the fish guy change gloves every time before he handles my order, but you raise an excellent point! There are LOTS of breaded things sitting in that case....who the heck knows what crumbs drift over or if he touched the breaded fish before stocking the naked salmon filets.

I am thinking it is wise to wash it off before preparing and that perhaps that is sufficient??

JMHO

And no, I do not think you are paranoid, just careful. I don't blame you one bit!!

Perhaps others will weigh in with their thoughts. Sometimes, we are asked to take a huge leap of faith when trusting what others handle before we eat it....sigh....

[IrishHeart]

I watch the fish guy change gloves every time before he handles my order, but you raise an excellent point! There are LOTS of breaded things sitting in that case....who the heck knows what crumbs drift over or if he touched the breaded fish before stocking the naked salmon filets.

I am thinking it is wise to wash it off before preparing and that perhaps that is sufficient??

JMHO

And no, I do not think you are paranoid, just careful. I don't blame you one bit!!

Perhaps others will weigh in with their thoughts. Sometimes, we are asked to take a huge leap of faith when trusting what others handle before we eat it....sigh....

My well-intentioned sister made me a separate unstuffed turkey at Thanksgiving. (my first one DXed and gluten-free) How sweet, right? Imagine my horror when I realized later she had basted both mine and the one for the rest of the family--bread stuffing and all---with the same baster. Sick as a d-o-g the next several days.

[modiddly16]

I always rinse my fish and give it a good scrub with my hands I've never gotten sick off of the fresh fish section at the grocery store but I also don't eat a ton of fish.