Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Contamination On Food Boxes

heidi b

Recommended Posts

heidi b Rookie
heidi b
Posted

I am the only non-celiac in our family. Our house is gluten-free. I would like to buy gluten-containing frozen meals on my way to work for my lunches. Other members of the family think there could be gluten on the outside of the food box or that some crumbs might spill out in a wreck. I think that if I keep the food boxes tied up inside a bag while it is in the car that the car should still be safe for the celiacs to ride in. What do you think?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply
rosetapper23 Explorer
rosetapper23
Posted

I think you are very conscientious...and that your celiacs are all safe. Just my own opinion....

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

I'm celiac and I ride in my friends' cars all the time without worrying about gluten from their groceries. I don't see any issue.

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

I am the only non-celiac in our family. Our house is gluten-free. I would like to buy gluten-containing frozen meals on my way to work for my lunches. Other members of the family think there could be gluten on the outside of the food box or that some crumbs might spill out in a wreck. I think that if I keep the food boxes tied up inside a bag while it is in the car that the car should still be safe for the celiacs to ride in. What do you think?

IMHO, Show some LOVE for family members and honor their requests... Gluten most likely isn't any good for you either...

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I do not see how FROZEN meals, packed inside a plastic bag could possibly have any "loose gluten" on the outside of the package.

I honestly think there is no need to worry about it.

Keep them in a plastic bag in the trunk--if that would make them feel better.

We sometimes purchase gluten-filled groceries for an elderly aunt all the time, and I have no issues whatsoever from it and I am very sensitive to trace gluten.

Her frozen lean cuisines (gasp) even touch my stuff!!! :)

I would not be inclined to pick up a bag of wheat flour for her, however, as those tend to leak. (Nor would she ask me to.)

And finally, if your car is "in a wreck", your frozen meals possibly opening up and spilling out--is the least of your worries.

Your family is right to be cautious about CC, but in this case, they are being unnecessarily overly-fearful. IMHO

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

IMHO, Show some LOVE for family members and honor their requests... Gluten most likely isn't any good for you either...

Talk about guilting people into being overly compliant when there isn't any issue! This has nothing to do with love and not everyone has a problem with gluten. If the food is being carried in a bag from the grocery store, there is no issue at all.

Have some common sense people! <_<

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Talk about guilting people into being overly compliant when there isn't any issue! This has nothing to do with love and not everyone has a problem with gluten. If the food is being carried in a bag from the grocery store, there is no issue at all.

Have some common sense people! <_<

I agree! I would think her family buys food from a grocery. Or TP from a Walmart. Do they wash every bag and package before they take it in thier car?I suspect the family just wants to guilt the OP into eating gluten-free away from home. Perhaps they suspect that's for the OP's own good?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Talk about guilting people into being overly compliant when there isn't any issue! This has nothing to do with love and not everyone has a problem with gluten. If the food is being carried in a bag from the grocery store, there is no issue at all.

Have some common sense people! <_<

The "in a wreck and gluten spilling out" is really over-the-top. I agree with you that capitulating to this and not buying frozen food for work (that isn't even stored in the freezer) is enabling overly fearful behavior. We're in places with gluten all the time like grocery stores, our workplace where people eat bagels and donuts, friends' homes, restaurants, and cars. None of these situations pose any risk unless we're eating the food. (Give or take RARE allergic or anxiety reactions in the bread aisle.) It's important be realistic about what can cause issues for someone with celiac like getting crumbs in the butter, compared to safe things like transporting a boxed frozen dinner in a bag to work. To be completely honest, it occurred to me to wonder how your family would even know?

Heck, last time my picky nephews visited they wanted waffles and I didn't want normal Bisquik in the kitchen. I bought Eggos, kept them in the freezer, cooked them in the toaster oven, and put the toaster oven rack through the dishwasher afterwards. No big deal and I didn't get CC'd. You just have to use common sense.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I tried so hard not use the word "paranoid" in my first reply, but since everyone else is chiming in here...what the heck.

They are being paranoid!!!

We do not know why you are not gluten-free like the rest of your family (and it is none of our business either) but do not let them push you around with guilt, honey.

I was trying to picture any scenario where possible gluten from a frozen meal could harm me as I ride in your car, even if we had a car crash, :rolleyes: and having it somehow magically open, defrost, then spill onto the seat and then what? absorb into my butt?? or by some bizarre twist of fate ---fly into mouth?? Ain't gonna happen.

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

Talk about guilting people into being overly compliant when there isn't any issue! This has nothing to do with love and not everyone has a problem with gluten. If the food is being carried in a bag from the grocery store, there is no issue at all.

Have some common sense people! <_<

Gemini, Do you know what IMHO means??? After suffering with undiagnosed Celiac & DH for 50 plus years, I can call it LOVE.... Some here may not respect my IMHO either, but so be it... Some here haven't suffered enough either... I say, Spread the Love to Family Members...

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Have the gluten-free family members ever considered gluten hands touching gluten-free canned goods in the store? Ooooooooo maybe they need to walk around wearing disposable medical gloves so they don't touch anything that gluten hands have touched. Or how about bags of flour breaking & spilling in the store room of the food warehouse or the grocery store back room & flour dust settling on everything in there? Maybe the gluten-free ought to live in a bubble like bubble boy on Seinfeld. Am I being over the top? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To the OP, WHATEVER you do, don't DARE mention the scenarios I just put forth --- they are likely to go to those lengths to protect themselves.

I stand with everyone except captaincrab. Take your frozen meals in the bag in the car. The celiacs in your family are being ridiculous.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Gemini, Do you know what IMHO means??? After suffering with undiagnosed Celiac & DH for 50 plus years, I can call it LOVE.... Some here may not respect my IMHO either, but so be it... Some here haven't suffered enough either... I say, Spread the Love to Family Members...

When I first read the post I was reminded of a friend with OCD I used to help. She was obsessed with the possibility of germs on food boxes and when she shopped she would wear gloves, line the shopping cart with bags, wipe off the conveyer belt at the checkout, and double-bag all her food. She wanted me to do the same when I shopped for her. Her therapist told me shop the way I do for myself and NOT lie to her that I was doing these crazy things. (I was lying to simply get food into her apartment; this woman was severely disabled.) The problem is, if we agree to irrational and fearful requests, we continue to enable and encourage the fear. That's not an act of love. That's lazy and destructive and doesn't allow the people around us to face their fears and grow out of them.

There is NO DANGER to a person with celiac putting a frozen dinner in a bag in the car on the way to work. Period. It's pure irrational fear and the family member who is worried about this really needs a firm and loving reality check. It's stressful enough avoiding situations where there is a real danger of being glutened; creating danger out of safe situations will be detrimental to this person's mental health in the long term.

captaincrab55 Collaborator
captaincrab55
Posted

When I first read the post I was reminded of a friend with OCD I used to help. She was obsessed with the possibility of germs on food boxes and when she shopped she would wear gloves, line the shopping cart with bags, wipe off the conveyer belt at the checkout, and double-bag all her food. She wanted me to do the same when I shopped for her. Her therapist told me shop the way I do for myself and NOT lie to her that I was doing these crazy things. (I was lying to simply get food into her apartment; this woman was severely disabled.) The problem is, if we agree to irrational and fearful requests, we continue to enable and encourage the fear. That's not an act of love. That's lazy and destructive and doesn't allow the people around us to face their fears and grow out of them.

There is NO DANGER to a person with celiac putting a frozen dinner in a bag in the car on the way to work. Period. It's pure irrational fear and the family member who is worried about this really needs a firm and loving reality check. It's stressful enough avoiding situations where there is a real danger of being glutened; creating danger out of safe situations will be detrimental to this person's mental health in the long term.

GOOD, GREAT, but One can do things for the LOVE of family members... REMENBER, I did Post IMHO.... They could do it for Family or just move out.... IMHO....
bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

And the FAMILY MEMBERS can do things for the LOVE of the OP - like allowing him/her to eat foods containing gluten when there is NO CHANCE of contaminating THEM.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

GOOD, GREAT, but One can do things for the LOVE of family members... REMENBER, I did Post IMHO.... They could do it for Family or just move out.... IMHO....

She probably does lots of things for the love of her family, but

transporting a sealed up box of frozen food in her car does not

mean she does not love them.

Suggesting she move out? Now, that's completely over the top here, Capt. Why does she have to do that? Lots of people co-exist safely with GEs.

Come on, now. Let's be reasonable. :)

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

Gemini, Do you know what IMHO means??? After suffering with undiagnosed Celiac & DH for 50 plus years, I can call it LOVE.... Some here may not respect my IMHO either, but so be it... Some here haven't suffered enough either... I say, Spread the Love to Family Members...

If you are going to offer up your IMHO, then be prepared to receive comments. Are you saying that just because you throw that in, I can't make a comment back? Poppycock! Again...new Celiacs need to know this is not an issue. There is no love of family if they are trying to manipulate and guilt another family member into eating "their way". Don't confuse love with control freak behavior.

anabananakins Explorer
anabananakins
Posted

My overactive imagination has conjured up an image of a terrible accident with a chicken nugget delivery truck that left billions of those little frozen crumbed morsels bouncing all over the highway like ping pong balls.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Gemini, Do you know what IMHO means??? After suffering with undiagnosed Celiac & DH for 50 plus years, I can call it LOVE.... Some here may not respect my IMHO either, but so be it... Some here haven't suffered enough either... I say, Spread the Love to Family Members...

But she's not taking it into the home, or eating it infront of them or eating it in the car. It sounds a bit controling on the family's part that she can't eat gluten when she isn't home. Unless they are rifing with her, they wouldn't even know she had the Lean Cuisine or microwave pizza.

Adalaide Mentor
Adalaide
Posted

Since you won't be bringing any gluten into the house I don't see how it's anyone else's business. Honestly, how will they know? And frankly if you are in a wreck that is bad enough to cause your frozen meals to pop open and spill all over your car you have a lot more problems than gluten. I thought I was paranoid but holy crap... do they make you strip naked and deposit your clothes in the garbage can outside if you stopped at McDonald's while you were out? Really though, even if there were somehow CC in your car as long as they aren't licking the seats I don't really see it being a problem.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Wow, so Heidi please don't think we're all wanting to fight with other when you read this. :blink: I notice you're new here and I didn't even welcome you. Welcome to board. Feelings run a little high when it comes to how careful you have to be about gluten. We're usually a much more laid-back bunch!

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

Well, we are a passionate bunch and the majority of us have told her the frozen items in a bag in the trunk should pose no problem.

Heidi, a bunch of passionate celiacs think it's cool to transport your food in your car. Please tell your family we do not think it's a CC issue.

Hope this helps!!

yes.... and welcome to the Forum!!!!!! :D

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Wow, so Heidi please don't think we're all wanting to fight with other when you read this. :blink: I notice you're new here and I didn't even welcome you. Welcome to board. Feelings run a little high when it comes to how careful you have to be about gluten. We're usually a much more laid-back bunch!

Well said! :D

NickMcKinnis Rookie
NickMcKinnis
Posted

I was trying to picture any scenario where possible gluten from a frozen meal could harm me as I ride in your car, even if we had a car crash, :rolleyes: and having it somehow magically open, defrost, then spill onto the seat and then what? absorb into my butt?? or by some bizarre twist of fate ---fly into mouth?? Ain't gonna happen.

I almost died laughing over this post. Thank you for your wisdom and hilarity.

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

I almost died laughing over this post. Thank you for your wisdom and hilarity.

You betcha. ;) Gotta keep these things in perspective. yes? Yes.

I see you're "new-ish" too, Nick. Welcome to the Forum!!!

NickMcKinnis Rookie
NickMcKinnis
Posted

You betcha. ;) Gotta keep these things in perspective. yes? Yes.

I see you're "new-ish" too, Nick. Welcome to the Forum!!!

Indeed, and thank you very much! This is not only my first Celiac forum, but my first forum ever!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. TheDHhurts
      - TheDHhurts posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      0

      Prana Organics no longer GFCO-certified

      I've been buying my seeds and nuts from Prana Organics for a number of years because the products have been GFCO-certified. I just got a new order delivered of their flax and sunflower seeds, and it turns out that they are no longer GFCO-certified. Instead, it just has a generic "Gluten Free" symbol on the package. I reached out to them to ask what...
    2. cristiana
      - cristiana replied to Dizzyma's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      2

      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      Hi @Dizzyma I note what @trents has commented about you possibly posting from the UK. Just to let you know that am a coeliac based in the UK, so if that is the case, do let me know if can help you with any questions on the NHS provision for coeliacs. If you are indeed based in the UK, and coeliac disease is confirmed, I would thoroughly recommend...
    3. trents
      - trents replied to Dizzyma's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      2

      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      Welcome to the celic.com community @Dizzyma! I'm assuming you are in the U.K. since you speak of your daughter's celiac disease blood tests as "her bloods". Has her physician officially diagnosed her has having celiac disease on the results of her blood tests alone? Normally, if the ttg-iga blood test results are positive, a follow-up endoscopy...
    4. Dizzyma
      - Dizzyma posted a topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      2

      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      Hi all, I have so many questions and feel like google is giving me very different information. Hoping I may get some more definite answers here. ok, my daughter has been diagnosed as a coeliac as her bloods show anti TTG antibodies are over 128. We have started her on a full gluten free diet. my concerns are that she wasn’t actually physically s...
    5. Scott Adams
      0

      Better-Than-Takeout Gluten-Free Chicken Fried Rice

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,924
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Jimlock
    Newest Member
    Jimlock
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • TheDHhurts
      Prana Organics no longer GFCO-certified

      By TheDHhurts · Posted

      I've been buying my seeds and nuts from Prana Organics for a number of years because the products have been GFCO-certified. I just got a new order delivered of their flax and sunflower seeds, and it turns out that they are no longer GFCO-certified. Instead, it just has a generic "Gluten Free" symbol on the package. I reached out to them to ask what protocols/standards/testing they have in place. The person that wrote back said that they are now certifying their gluten free status in-house, but that she couldn't answer my questions related to standards because the person with that info was on vacation. Not very impressed, especially since it still says on their website that they are GFCO-certified. Buyer beware!
    • cristiana
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By cristiana · Posted

      Hi @Dizzyma I note what @trents has commented about you possibly posting from the UK.  Just to let you know that am a coeliac based in the UK, so if that is the case, do let me know if can help you with any questions on the NHS provision for coeliacs.    If you are indeed based in the UK, and coeliac disease is confirmed, I would thoroughly recommend you join Coeliac UK, as they provide a printed food and drink guide and also a phone app which you can take shopping with you so you can find out if a product is gluten free or not. But one thing I would like to say to you, no matter where you live, is you mention that your daughter is anxious.  I was always a bit of a nervous, anxious child but before my diagnosis in mid-life my anxiety levels were through the roof.   My anxiety got steadily better when I followed the gluten-free diet and vitamin and mineral deficiencies were addressed.  Anxiety is very common at diagnosis, you may well find that her anxiety will improve once your daughter follows a strict gluten-free diet. Cristiana 
    • trents
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celic.com community @Dizzyma! I'm assuming you are in the U.K. since you speak of your daughter's celiac disease blood tests as "her bloods".  Has her physician officially diagnosed her has having celiac disease on the results of her blood tests alone? Normally, if the ttg-iga blood test results are positive, a follow-up endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining to check for damage would be ordered to confirm the results of "the bloods". However if the ttg-iga test score is 10x normal or greater, some physicians, particularly in the U.K., will dispense with the endoscopy/biopsy. If there is to be an endoscopy/biopsy, your daughter should not yet begin the gluten free diet as doing so would allow healing of the small bowel lining to commence which may result in a biopsy finding having results that conflict with the blood work. Do you know if an endoscopy/biopsy is planned? Celiac disease can have onset at any stage of life, from infancy to old age. It has a genetic base but the genes remain dormant until and unless triggered by some stress event. The stress event can be many things but it is often a viral infection. About 40% of the general population have the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% actually develop celiac disease. So, for most, the genes remain dormant.  Celiac disease is by nature an autoimmune disorder. That is to say, gluten ingestion triggers an immune response that causes the body to attack its own tissues. In this case, the attack happens in he lining of the small bowel, at least classically, though we now know there are other body systems that can sometimes be affected. So, for a person with celiac disease, when they ingest gluten, the body sends attacking cells to battle the gluten which causes inflammation as the gluten is being absorbed into the cells that make up the lining of the small bowel. This causes damage to the cells and over time, wears them down. This lining is composed of billions of tiny finger-like projections and which creates a tremendous surface area for absorbing nutrients from the food we eat. This area of the intestinal track is where all of our nutrition is absorbed. As these finger-like projections get worn down by the constant inflammation from continued gluten consumption before diagnosis (or after diagnosis in the case of those who are noncompliant) the efficiency of nutrient absorption from what we eat can be drastically reduced. This is why iron deficiency anemia and other nutrient deficiency related medical problems are so common in the celiac population. So, to answer your question about the wisdom of allowing your daughter to consume gluten on a limited basis to retain some tolerance to it, that would not be a sound approach because it would prevent healing of the lining of her small bowel. It would keep the fires of inflammation smoldering. The only wise course is strict adherence to a gluten free diet, once all tests to confirm celiac disease are complete.
    • Dizzyma
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By Dizzyma · Posted

      Hi all, I have so many questions and feel like google is giving me very different information. Hoping I may get some more definite answers here. ok, my daughter has been diagnosed as a coeliac as her bloods show anti TTG antibodies are over 128. We have started her  on a full gluten free diet. my concerns are that she wasn’t actually physically sick on her regular diet, she had tummy issues and skin sores. My fear is that she will build up a complete intolerance to gluten and become physically sick if she has gluten. Is there anything to be said for keeping a small bit of gluten in the diet to stop her from developing a total intolerance?  also, she would be an anxious type of person, is it possible that stress is the reason she has become coeliac? I read that diagnosis later in childhood could be following a sickness or stress. How can she have been fine for the first 10 years and then become coeliac? sorry, I’m just very confused and really want to do right by her. I know a coeliac and she has a terrible time after she gets gluttened so just want to make sure going down a total gluten free road is the right choice. thank you for any help or advise xx 
    • xxnonamexx
      Fermented foods, Kefir, Kombucha?

      By xxnonamexx · Posted

      very interesting thanks for the info  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.