Gluten cross contamination

Did you know that products that do not contain gluten can end up having it? This is known as cross-contamination. The most important thing to avoid this is not to mix foods. For example, you should not fry a gluten-free food and a gluten-containing food in the same oil.

If you suffer from celiac disease you should be aware that cross-contamination can be a serious problem for your health. If you eat a contaminated food, you will suffer the same consequences as if you eat a product that is not suitable for coeliacs. As we already know, each body reacts in a different way and therefore the reactions vary and can be of different severity, but among the problems you may suffer gastroenteritis, abdominal pain, etc.

Advice

An important advice is that when eating out, make sure that the establishment has 100% allergen-free options and that the preparation is acurate. However, if you cook at home don’t neglect it either. Later on you will learn that there are mistakes that you can make without being aware of them and that will result in an unpleasant experience.

Over the years, different establishments have been demanded by customers who have been affected by cross-contamination. It is important to consider that a large part of society does not know how this incident occurs and therefore you should warn the restaurant of the consequences that a person could suffer.

Types

In addition, if we go deeper into this topic you will know that there are two types of contamination; direct and indirect. Direct contamination is the one we talked about before, when food is contaminated with each other during its preparation (e.g. oil when frying).

However, there is also the indirect one, and it happens when contaminated cooking utensils/surface/ingredient or dish come into contact with ‘clean’ food (that is why you should wash utensils and surface areas with great caution). The second is the least known, it is thought that once food is cooked it can no longer be contaminated, however, this is not the reality. It is true that it is easier to avoid the second type at home, but it is also something that hotels and restaurants should not forget.

Don’t be self-conscious! Every time you go out, warn that you suffer from a disease. It is better to be persistent in order not to suffer any consequences in the future. Check out the various websites with information on gluten-free/allergen-free restaurants for a list of establishments that offer safe choices of allergen-free dishes. It will help you a lot in selecting your next meal out!