Being gluten free can be difficult. With so much of our diet involving enriched flour, it is challenging for us and those that are hosting us to provide food that will not make us sick. When dining out and at a dinner party, pre planning is key.
When dining out, look online for menus, especially gluten free, for where you are planning on going. Ask for the chef or manager and let them know what your dietary restrictions are. Look for ingredients on the menu that are fresh. Order whole muscle meat, fish, seafood and chicken, vegetables and fruits are naturally gluten free. The problem can be how prepared. Ask questions and avoid batters, seasonings, sauces and items cooked with other contaminated items, such as deep fried foods. Choose restaurants
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When equipment and utensils are shared, gluten can contaminate the gluten free food, making someone sick. Be careful to not share dish cloths and sponges, cutting boards, and any plastic utensils. Gluten is very sticky and does not die at high temperatures. It can stick to a cutting board and then when used for preparing food for the non-gluten eater, it can contaminate it. Remember the FDA says that 20 ppm is safe. That is .002%, and some studies, as stated earlier, maintain that is still too much. One crumb transferred on the same knife used on wheat toast and then gluten free toast is enough to make someone sick for example.
Cross contamination can occur when sharing condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise and jam’s. This is as simple as using the same knife in the peanut butter to make a gluten free sandwich and a gluten sandwich. It can happen innocently and then someone gets sick and you do not know why. When accidents happen in our home, we put a big black X on the container so I know I cannot use it. A good solution is to either have separate condiments for gluten eaters and non-gluten eaters or use squeeze bottles to avoid any possible cross