10 Tips for Avoiding Cross-Contamination in the Home

If you, like so many, are sharing a kitchen with others who are not gluten free, then cross-contamination is always a real possibility.  The following tips and tricks can help minimize this risk and make sticking to a gluten free diet a little bit easier.

1- Separate toasters:  The littlest bit of gluten can be damaging, and that includes the crumbs that gather at the bottom of a toaster.  Gluten free bread should always be toasted in a separate, dedicated toaster that is not located where the crumbs from regular toast may fall in.

2- Condiments and Spreads: Peanut butter, butter, jams, mayonnaise...any jar or container that knives get dipped into are potential breeding grounds for cross-contamination.  One person uses a clean knife to get peanut butter out of the jar and spreads it on a regular piece of bread.  Then they stick the knife back in the jar to butter another piece of bread, and there you have it: cross-contamination.  Purchase dedicated spreads and condiments and label them clearly. 

3-Avoid shared utensils: One of the first things we did when we went gluten free for our son was to get new utensils, particularly serving spoons, spatulas, and cutting boards.  Gluten can hide in the grooves and crevices of utensils, especially wooden ones.  If others are preparing food that is off limits with those utensils, you shouldn't be using them.

4- Separate prep. and storage area: In addition to cutting boards and utensils, having a separate place to prepare food can save headaches down the road.  Knowing where your utensils are and here your food will be prepped makes it less likely that someone will accidentally use your cutting board to cut their sandwich in half.

5- Clean surfaces frequently: Crumbs and other traces of gluten can linger on surfaces long after the food they came from have been consumed.  Always wipe down surfaces before and after prepping food.  If baking, remember that flour can nestle into tiny cracks and crevices, and also remain airborne for long periods of time.

6- Baking: Don't use the same sifter for regular and gluten free flour.  Baking with regular flour is tricky enough; flour can remain airborne and settle on surfaces and food, increasing the risk of cross-contamination.  Having separate mixers and baking pans is also important.  Separate storage of regular baking items and ingredients with GF ones is essential.  Air tight containers are better than bags.

7- Beware the microwave: Microwaves can harbour crumbs as well, and it's easy for cross-contamination to happen.  Wipe the inside of the microwave down before heating gluten free food.

8- Practice Good Hygiene: Hands that have held a regular sandwich and then go on to touch multiple surfaces can spread gluten around and increase the risk of cross-contamination.  Have everyone wash hands after preparing and eating regular food.  Hands should also be washed before preparing gluten free food, to wash any traces of gluten away.

9- Prepare Gluten Free Food First: Whenever possible, prepare gluten free food first to avoid contamination.  This is especially important when baking, so that GF baked goods can be wrapped and put away before anything else is prepared.  If making GF food first isn't possible, keep food separated and always use separate utensils.

10- Serve Yourself First: When eating a meal that has some shared gluten free dishes, like a salad or a side dish, prepare a plate for the gluten free person first.  Often people will contaminate a gluten free dish accidentally, by using the same utensil to serve two different dishes, or by allowing a utensil to touch a gluten filled item on their plate. 

Have a tip you want to share?  Leave a comment below!

Fun and Diarrhea at the Amusement Park

One of the downfalls of dealing with gluten issues is that EVERY TIME my son gets an upset stomach I panic that it's because of cross-contamination.  Particularly since he's too young to tell me specifically what's wrong.  Instead, it becomes a waiting game to see how long the digestive problems last. 

I should have been prepared for a crazy day when my son woke up at 4:45 am asking to go downstairs and eat fish sticks.   He drifted off whispering "I don't want to go to sleep...".   He actually ended up sleeping in this morning once I rubbed him back to sleep.  I thought the late wake-up was a good thing until he had his first accident (peeing on the floor) and subsequent bout of diarrhea. 

We met my sister and niece at an indoor amusement park that we take the kids to when the weather is bad.  Rather than being excited about the rides, he began to cry and repeat "I don't want an adventure!" over and over.  Finally, after about a half hour of reassuring him that the whistle on the train wasn't going to hurt him, he began going on rides. 

Then he had to go to the bathroom.  And again, and again.  I thought we were ok until I took him into the jungle gym area and he went poo in his underwear.  He was upset, since he never has those types of accidents in his underwear anymore.  I briefly panicked when I thought about how exactly to get him to the bathroom without leaving a trail of diarrhea behind.

To put this in perspective, this indoor play area is one of the largest in the country.  By the time we wove our way out of the maze we were in, found his shoes and put them on, and trudged across the amusement park to the bathroom, it was an ugly situation.

I shut the door to the bathroom stall, took off his shoes and then tried to finagle his underwear off without creating more of a mess.

I was unsuccessful. 

Thank G-d I had wipes in my purse, because I was wiping diarrhea off my son, myself, and the floor. 

Lucky me. 

My sister had a pull-up in her purse, so I yanked it on him and we hightailed it home.  After two more bouts of ever messier diarrhea, he finally went down for a 2 1/2 hour nap.  Which is unusual in itself.

I'm inclined to belief that this is more of a stomach bug than a cross-contamination issue for a few reasons.  The frequency and consistency were different, his behaviour was better than when he's contaminated, and most importantly, I know what he's eaten over the last few days.

I hope I'm right. 

Otherwise, we're in for at least another week of this. 

Clearing out the cabinets

Yesterday night my husband and I finally completely rid our kitchen of all food items containing gluten in its many forms.  We had been meaning to do this for a bit, but life got in the way and we procrastinated.  Cross-contamination can happen so easily that even a few crumbs left on the counter or some flour settling on something that my son eats can make him sick, so we knew we had to get rid of it all.

The kitchen cabinets held the biggest offenders.  Flour, canned soup, dried soup, cereal, flavoured rice cakes, pasta.... the list went on, and now there are two packed grocery bags at the front door full of unopened items to be given away.  I didn't have to throw much away because I was giving it to someone I know, but I was still struck by just HOW MUCH of what I kept in my kitchen was full of gluten.  I have to admit, it hurt a little bit to give away some of my favourite items, but I felt lighter once they were all packed and by the front door.  I completely wiped down and disinfected the shelves before putting anything back on them, and even put some non-gluten items that I couldn't be certain had not been contaminated in the bags to give away.

The fridge was not a problem because it had been cleaned out when we first suspected this issue.  Everything came out, I threw away all open jars of jam, peanut butter, lunch meats and anything else that had potentially been cross-contaminated.  I then wiped down all the shelves and allocated one specific drawer for the cheese that we continue to keep.  All other dairy has been eliminated and replaced with substitutes, like the rice milk we've all grown to love.

I'm not yet finished my purge.  Tonight I plan to tackle the cold room in the basement and the large freezer.  There's no point in keeping anything around that might make my son sick.  After that, I'm going to go through my utensils and throw away anything porous, like my wooden spoons and cutting boards and replace them with new ones.  My parents have put aside dedicated pots, pans and utensils for him at their place.  The importance of that was reinforced Monday night when my son took a sip from my niece's cup after she had eaten a cupcake and he proceeded to break out into a full body rash less than ten minutes later.  A new toaster is on the horizon, and replacement versions of anything previously used to prepare gluten filled goodies will follow shortly.  Maybe I'll take advantage of all the Christmas sales to restock my kitchen!

To someone not dealing with this issue these measures may seem extreme, but not to me.  It doesn't take a large amount of gluten to make someone sick, and damage can occur internally even if no external symptoms are detected.  I'm not taking any chances with my son's health.  I would rather feel safe knowing that my home is a place free from potentially harmful contaminants than continuously be trying to avoid cross contamination every time I'm in the kitchen.