Gluten Free In Restaurants

[Kat25]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to know if anyone else share's my frustration (which I'm sure a lot of you do!) with calling around restaurants and asking about their gluten free labeling and cross contamination. I'm in Greenville, SC and called The Chocolate Moose because they have gluten free cupcakes. Well when I called and asked if they have a dedicated area to gluten free cupcakes she said no and they are made with the same equipment and everything that the gluten cupcakes are. And then to top it off I was told that separate areas for gluten free food and restaurants will probably never happen. I just didn't understand the hostility. I wish there was some sort of law that your restaurant had to be certified by a company if you wanted to offer gluten free food instead of just changing a few ingredients and calling yourself gluten free. Sorry for the venting, I'm just frustrated and sick of getting sick.

[MrsVJW]

The cupcakes thing would make me a little angry. That's why most places I've seen that offer gluten-free items buy them from a dedicated gluten-free bakery.

I do understand that some places don't have the space to have a special area for just gluten-free food prep, but as long as the place is usually clean and they do other things right (change gloves, make sure ingredients aren't possible cross-contaminated, etc.) I don't sweat it too much. I actually do not have a gluten-free household, and I don't have problems that stem from eating out of my own home.