Did I Do The Right Thing?

[ElseB]

This morning my sister-in-law dropped off a loaf of bread that she bought for me at a farmer's market. Its labelled gluten free, but doesn't state who made it. I'm really nervous about eating things from farmer's markets that are supposedly gluten free, because so many are just made by people in their own kitchens and they have no clue about cross contamination. And, because there's no indication who made it, I can't even research them. So, when she called a few hours later I told her that I really appreciated the thought, but I wouldn't be eating the bread. My non-Celiac husband ate it instead. I thought about not telling her, but she goes to this market all the time and I was afraid that she might buy it again. Did I do the right thing? I feel sooooo guilty because it was so nice of her to think of me.

[mushroom]

I'm with you. If I can't ascertain its origins I don't eat it. No label means it's probablly a home baker of undetermined baking practices. I also (personally) wouldn't eat it because there may be other things in there that I can't have

[Cara in Boston]

You did the right thing.

I pretended to eat/enjoy something that someone made for me at a neighborhood gathering and now she makes it (and more!) every time we get together. I think it is wonderful that she is going out of her way to include me, but now I have to find a way to tell her I really can't eat it. I think I will lie (again) and say I have become more sensitive and can no longer eat ANYTHING prepared in a regular kitchen.

I've always heard that if you tell a lie, you will have to tell three more to support it . . .

Cara

[love2travel]

It was a nice gesture but you definitely did the right thing, especially as you did it quickly to prevent any confusion in the future. Now when it happens again (by someone else) you will have had practice already! There is no way I would eat said bread without a detailed list of ingredients, either.

[GlutenFreeManna]

You did the right thing! Better to have been honest and have minor hurt feelings upfront (if any) then to lie or not say anything and have to REALLY upset her later when you have to admit you can't eat it. She might have bought some to keep at her house and tried to make you a sandwhich when you were there. Then you would be stuck either telling her or risking getting sick. Best to just explain the first time you really appreciate the thought but you didn't want to eat something without a label. If she is still upset about it next time you talk to her you could also bring up the news story of the NC man that was repackaging plain wheat bread, labeling it "gluten free" and selling it at the fair. You could give it to her as an example of why you were concerned. Open Original Shared Link

[WinterSong]

You definitely did the right thing! Whenever people offer me food at work now, I basically tell them that I have a food allergy (seems easier to explain than Celiac). I sometimes work with kids, and the only time when I take the food is when these two girls (ages 5 and 6) occasionally give me cupcakes and cookies. I say thank you so much and that I'll eat it later. I then promptly give it to my coworkers and wash my hands. Seems to work okay because I don't want to hurt their feelings, though I'm considering telling their mother that I can't eat baked foods.

[Roda]

I wouldn't have eaten it either. I had a mother of a kid in my son's kindergarden class ask about my son's "allergy." I told her he had celiac and has to eat gluten free. She told me oh yeah, I have had customers ask me to bake gluten free bread. From what I could gather she does a lot of home baking of bread and sells it. I really hope she doesn't start making gluten free bread since she probably doesn't know about the cc issues. Another mom was going to bring cupcakes into school for her daughter's birthday and wanted to include my son. So she asked me if she made cupcakes out of gluten free cake mix could he eat it. I said that we usually don't eat anything anyone makes for us and explained some about the cc issues. It ended up her little girl was sick that day and she wasn't able to bring them in. She mentioned to me later that she wanted to give me the unopened cake mix (I'll accept it). So question.. Would any of you eat cupcakes made in a cupcake tin that had gluten cupcakes made it it prior if the gluten free ones were in foil liners?

[GlutenFreeManna]

So question.. Would any of you eat cupcakes made in a cupcake tin that had gluten cupcakes made it it prior if the gluten free ones were in foil liners?

Yes and no. If made in someone else's non-gluten-free kitchen I would not eat them. Especially since you know they were making regular cupcakes at the same time for the whole class. However, my muffin tins are one of the few things I didn't get rid of when I went gluten-free. I always used muffin liners before on both muffins and cupcakes and my tins were not very old or beat up. So, yes I make gluten-free muffins and cupcakes in them (in liners) all the time.

[mamaw]

Why would anyone be selling products that contain no information? Isn't that against the law? That farmer's Market could be sued if someone became sick & also the person who made the product... I agree with you gluten-free or not I would not eat anything that I didn't know the ingredient list or where it came from.

The world is such a strange place anymore who knows it could have been made in a unclean place, or contain things in it we would not want to put in our mouths...

Now this is gross but I've never forgot it ever... In another state at pizza shop a male employee was masterbating on top of pizzas.... Someone thought the pizza they ordered looked strange & called police & this is what they found was going on... Makes one wonder how many people actually ate... GROSS... Man was sentenced ......this was many years ago...

[mushroom]

Oh, mawmaw, I think maybe I could have done without that one

It is a strange tradition down here about food. We do a lot of bakesales for fundraising, generally including a raffle with a hamper of (purchased) goodies for a prize. There ie also this fund-raising thing called a "sausage sizzle:" Sausages of (sometimes) dubious origin but definitely in the British banger tradition are barbecued in a public place (in our village it happens outside the post office on a Saturday morning) and sold to the passing general public (lots of people have PO Boxes) wrapped in a slice of "wonder"-type buttered bread with tomato sauce (ketchup) or mustard if you want to be weird No food safety requirements, no license or permit....anyone can do it anywhere But at least in a public place we do not have mawmaw's problem

[ElseB]

Thanks for your support everyone! I should clarify that the package had ingredients, but what it was missing was the name of the person or company that made it. Even with the ingredients listed, I didn't really trust whether it was complete or accurate, since it had spelling mistakes. Like "rice sour".....hmmmm, rice flour? If you can't even take the care to spell things correctly then you don't inspire much confidence about the rest!

[Roda]

Yes and no. If made in someone else's non-gluten-free kitchen I would not eat them. Especially since you know they were making regular cupcakes at the same time for the whole class. However, my muffin tins are one of the few things I didn't get rid of when I went gluten-free. I always used muffin liners before on both muffins and cupcakes and my tins were not very old or beat up. So, yes I make gluten-free muffins and cupcakes in them (in liners) all the time.

She was going to make the whole class gluten free cupcakes.

[GlutenFreeManna]

She was going to make the whole class gluten free cupcakes.

But her kitchen is not gluten-free, is it? Would she be stirring the cupcake batter with a wooden spoon used hundreds of times before on regular wheat flour baked goods? Would she be using her mixer which may have bits of batter/flour up in the mechanism that will rattle loose as she mixes the gluten-free mix up? Will she use plastic mixing bowls that have scrathes or old scratched spatualas? If she has baked at all in her kitchen everything could have a fine layer of wheat dust on it. I'm not trying to be overly paranoid, I'm just saying that there is more to think about than whether or not foil cupcake liners are used. The foil cupcake liners in old tins would not concern me, but the other things would.

[cap6]

you were right. Better to hurt feelings at the start than to get sick. Most people don't think or know about the CC issues. They think that if the package says gluten-free then it's good to go. They bake stuff in their regular pans.... toooo risky! I was at a Farmer's Fair where they had gluten-free cookies on the same tray as the regular cookies all nestled up next to each other. Max CC!!!

[Roda]

But her kitchen is not gluten-free, is it? Would she be stirring the cupcake batter with a wooden spoon used hundreds of times before on regular wheat flour baked goods? Would she be using her mixer which may have bits of batter/flour up in the mechanism that will rattle loose as she mixes the gluten-free mix up? Will she use plastic mixing bowls that have scrathes or old scratched spatualas? If she has baked at all in her kitchen everything could have a fine layer of wheat dust on it. I'm not trying to be overly paranoid, I'm just saying that there is more to think about than whether or not foil cupcake liners are used. The foil cupcake liners in old tins would not concern me, but the other things would.

That was my thoughts and I did try to convey, but in the end she was going to do what she wanted. It never came to pass though, but I'm sure we will face these issues in 1st grade too.

[domesticactivist]

Like they said, the cc is a big deal. We have very considerate, open minded friends who want to try gluten-free baking for us but they don't understand cc and I wouldn't even trust myself to bake gluten-free in their kitchens. Also, we have other restrictions like no sugar or grains, and only nuts that have been soaked that they don't understand how to deal with. I posted a three part series "crazy diet people" on my blog a while back about this.

[IrishHeart]

Any well-intentioned baker can CC you accidentally. My dear sister made me a gluten-free birthday cake (from a box) last year, but used the beaters and pans she has used a zillion times for her gluteny goodies and then sprayed the pan with generic store brand vegetable oil (with soy and wheat starch binders--we discovered later)and so I ate it and...sigh...

The farmer's market is like a land mine of gluten ....it may be labeled "gluten free" because many people understand that to mean "NO WHEAT"-- and so, they figure they have done all that needs to be done by using alternative flours. They just don't realize all that we do to avoid CC.

I would not touch anything anyone makes-- unless they know how to take the necessary precautions to guarantee it is gluten-free . I am not being paranoid, I'm just sick of being sick -- and refuse to "go there again" for a cupcake or a piece of bread.

You did the right thing by politely declining and telling her why. Otherwise, you'll keep getting "gifts" you cannot eat!