First Time Traveling & Eating Out gluten-free

[tcmom]

I was diagnosed a little over a week ago and this weekend was the first time I've traveled and went out to eat being gluten-free. Since we drove I was able to bring a cooler full of gluten-free food but when we got there my SIL was bent on going out to eat! DH is so good, he tried to explain about Celiac and being gluten-free but that didn't go over very well. SIL thought I could just have a salad and I'd be fine. SIL wanted to bring the kids to Space Aliens for dinner. We caved and agreed to go out to eat even though I brought gluten-free brats for everyone.

The waiter was very nice, I told him no croutons, no roll, no onion rings on top of my steak. DH told him I had to be gluten-free and the waiter suggested I didn't use the spices on the steak either. I was shocked he even knew what it meant! Not thinking I ate some of the Caesar Salad, I don't know if it was gluten-free or not but I felt a little ill the next morning. I would just rather not go out to eat. We spent a small fortune and I still didn't feel very good.

The whole experience was extremely stressful. I hate inconveniencing people. My BIL thought I was nuts having to open a new butter because the used butter was full of bread crumbs. DH was my hero sticking up for me every step of the way! Hopefully I don't become a hermit!

Maybe I will have to have more parties because I love to cook and without knowing it have been cooking nearly gluten-free all this time!

[love2travel]

It is scary eating out! I did not eat out for a few months after my diagnosis as I felt it may be overwhelming (and I have learned so much since then). Cross contamination is worrisome, too. There are zero places in town I can safely eat but thankfully I love to cook!

It's cool you've noticed that you cook mainly gluten-free anyway! I was happy to come to that realization as well. So many delicious things are naturally gluten free to begin with. You will have to add your ideas to the Cooking and Recipe forum - we talk about all kinds of yummy things and post some recipes and discuss what we eat for breakfast and dinner. It is a fun way of getting to know people.

Glad to hear your husband is on board with this - support is crucial.

Welcome here!

[AVR1962]

I do understand and unless someone deals what we have to they really can't understand. Don't let this experience take away from going to eat and enjoying life. I actually live in Germany where you do not see gluten-free menus so I ahve to be extremely careful. This summer I took a trip to the States and of course ate out....I was surprised how many restaurants now have gluten-free menus, and how knowledgable the staff is about gluten free.

[PainfulSpaghetti]

It IS nearly impossible for me to eat out without having adverse side effects. Gluten is snuck into nearly everything out there. The worst for me is the soy sauce. I LOVE soy sauce, and never would have guessed it was the culprit for so many of my attacks, but it was indeed responsible. They do make gluten free soy sauce but who wants to walk in with a bottle of soy sauce in your bag?

[kellynolan82]

Here in Australia, I luckily have had very little trouble eating out. So many restaurants in my local area offer gluten free options that it actually (almost) can become difficult to choose between the places. I have always been attended to really well here in Canberra and most waiters at good restaurants really take time to make sure the menu order is correct each time. I have a local botanical garden area just up the road from college at university and they offer gluten free cakes baked on premises every day. They really are delicious and the staff are so friendly and understanding - far different to other areas around the country.

Sorry you're having such a difficult time. I think it is important to check EVERYTHING when dining out at restaurants. Especially if they don't offer a gluten free menu. All the best.

[kellynolan82]

It IS nearly impossible for me to eat out without having adverse side effects. Gluten is snuck into nearly everything out there. The worst for me is the soy sauce. I LOVE soy sauce, and never would have guessed it was the culprit for so many of my attacks, but it was indeed responsible. They do make gluten free soy sauce but who wants to walk in with a bottle of soy sauce in your bag?

Please accept my apologies for (possibly) detracting from the main purpose of this topic, however as far as I'm aware, traditional soy sauce contains "no detectable gluten". This is according to Kikkoman. Correct me if I'm wrong though

[Skylark]

The sort of things we ask of people are MINOR inconveniences. I mean really, would you be upset if a family member asked for a fresh stick of butter for a health reason? It's not as if you're asking someone to go drive to the store to get you a fresh stick of butter RIGHT NOW BEFORE BREAKFAST!!! THAT would be inconvenient.

As far as restaurants, you are paying for the food and tipping the waiter. If they can't accommodate they will say so. A lot of people waiting tables enjoy making their customers happy; smile, thank them, and tip well to let them know that the extra effort did make you happy. Besides, you'd be amazed at all the different, odd things people ask restaurants to do simply because they don't like a particular food. Our requests to cook food plain or skip the croutons are trivial in comparison.

[kellynolan82]

The sort of things we ask of people are MINOR inconveniences. I mean really, would you be upset if a family member asked for a fresh stick of butter for a health reason? It's not as if you're asking someone to go drive to the store to get you a fresh stick of butter RIGHT NOW BEFORE BREAKFAST!!! THAT would be inconvenient.

As far as restaurants, you are paying for the food and tipping the waiter. If they can't accommodate they will say so. A lot of people waiting tables enjoy making their customers happy; smile, thank them, and tip well to let them know that the extra effort did make you happy. Besides, you'd be amazed at all the different, odd things people ask restaurants to do simply because they don't like a particular food. Our requests to cook food plain or skip the croutons are trivial in comparison.

I agree. I think there are many places (as mentioned before) that really do want to make our experiences good ones. I think that sometimes there just isn't a great deal of awareness and I think that'll come more with time. Just remember, if in doubt, leave it out..

[Skylark]

Please accept my apologies for (possibly) detracting from the main purpose of this topic, however as far as I'm aware, traditional soy sauce contains "no detectable gluten". This is according to Kikkoman. Correct me if I'm wrong though

Kikkoman makes a gluten-free soy sauce.

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Why would they bother if they were confident their regular soy sauce were safe for celiacs? I suspect they are not 100% confident in current tests on fermented foods, or in the degree of batch-to-batch variation.

Also, I've gotten sick from regular soy sauce and not from gluten-free.

[kellynolan82]

Kikkoman makes a gluten-free soy sauce.

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Why would they bother if they were confident their regular soy sauce were safe for celiacs? I suspect they are not 100% confident in current tests on fermented foods, or in the degree of batch-to-batch variation.

Also, I've gotten sick from regular soy sauce and not from gluten-free.

How can they call the Kikkoman sauce Tamari though? Especially if it has rice in it. I always thought Tamari was just a combination of water, soybeans and salt; and Shoyu (regular soy sauce) was a combination of water, soybeans, wheat and salt.

[notme]

Please accept my apologies for (possibly) detracting from the main purpose of this topic, however as far as I'm aware, traditional soy sauce contains "no detectable gluten". This is according to Kikkoman. Correct me if I'm wrong though

you're wrong. LOL although i am in the USA.

always always read the labels.

[notme]

Maybe I will have to have more parties because I love to cook and without knowing it have been cooking nearly gluten-free all this time!

i was also cooking "instinctively" nearly gluten free as well before i was diagnosed! it was wierd. mostly whole foods, fresh veggies, etc. almost no processed foods. the hardest change was breads/pastas.

and Krispy Kremes. which should be it's own food group.... (raspberry jelly filled little poison horrors, how i miss you! lol)

[kareng]

Please accept my apologies for (possibly) detracting from the main purpose of this topic, however as far as I'm aware, traditional soy sauce contains "no detectable gluten". This is according to Kikkoman. Correct me if I'm wrong though

I tried to copy a letter from KikomaN, received by someone on another forum but I couldn't get it to work. They now say that the regular soy sauce is not suitable for Celiacs. They can't get a result of less than 20 ppm that they are confident in. They say that it was considered gluten-free by an old standard or test.

Anyway, they are making one without wheat now.

Here's part of the letter. The technical one I can't copy.

We received your e-mail regarding Kikkoman Soy Sauce. You wrote that a

couple years ago we had told you the "regular soy sauce was

tested gluten-free even if there's wheat into it, due to the brewing."

You asked why would we manufacture a gluten-free soy sauce without

wheat if the

one we already had had no gluten left after the brewing procedure. </font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">We welcome any questions our

consumers may have.<br>

<br>

Back in 2009, the Codex Standard for gluten-free had changed from

200ppm to 20ppm. Since then, Kikkoman has changed it gluten statement

about its regular, all-purpose soy sauce. Please see the attached new

statement from Kikkoman Corporation’s quality

assurance department. (KIKKOMAN SALES USA, INC. is a subsidiary of

Kikkoman Corporation). Hence, the company developed a gluten-free soy

sauce for individuals who have celiac disease.<br>