You have some idea about what it is that you need to watch out for to eat gluten free food. But it isn’t safe just yet. PUT DOWN THE FRENCH FRY. I know, I know. I get how hard it is to resist, but let me explain.
Making sure the food is gluten free is a two part equation:
Gluten Free Ingredients + No Cross Contamination = Safe To Consume
Gluten free ingredients: WHAT is in your food/ drink?
Cross Contamination: HOW is it made?
Cross contamination is just what it sounds like, crucifixes infect eachother. No, kidding (I am not a heretic, please don’t be offended). But the idea behind one thing “infecting” another is legitimate. For example, let’s say someone made a sandwich for themselves and now they are making your gluten free sandwich. They pull out your gluten free bread, place it on the cutting board, dip the knife into the mayo, add a little mustard, slice the cheese, toss on some lettuce, and add turkey. Everything they used was gluten free so what’s the deal? Let’s break down the process a little more:
- Using the same cutting board that has regular breadcrumbs and now your gluten free bread is covered in them
- Dipping the same knife that touched gluten into the mayo jar, which, in addition to today’s breadcrumbs, also probably has breadcrumbs of yester-year
- Slicing the cheese with the same knife that was used to spread mustard on their gluten filled bread and now the cheese has it
Get where I am going? Almost everything that touched the gluten now has come into contact with the gluten free food. Gluten free food and cross contamination, does not equal safe to consume. Cross contamination is where something that isn’t gluten free comes into contact with something that is gluten free. This is why the gluten free food is defined by the process as much as ingredients.
Yeah, okay I get it, but my french fries are getting cold! Why should I pause before eating these?
So, that french fry, is you know, fried. They place the potato slice into oil, fry it, and pull it out. That potato slice, which is gluten free, came into contact with the oil. So now the question is, what has the oil come into contact with? Breaded chicken nuggets? Flour tortillas? Anything in batter? If your gluten free food was fried with ANYTHING that contains gluten, it is not safe to eat. (Drops mic.)
I realize that at first, this sounds insane. When my doctor first told me, I literally looked at him and said, “So, you’re telling me, that at the microscopic level, one tiny crumb I can’t even see can make me sick??” His resounding response was yes. My rebuttal in my mind was, “Psh only for hypochondriacs.”
Fast forward six months later, eating corn tortilla chips and some amazing spinach artichoke dip at Cheesecake Factory, all gluten free, double checked by waiter. Ten minutes later, my stomach swells like a balloon and I feel sick. After some sleuthing, we figure out that the tortilla chips were fried in the same fryer as fried chicken. I wound up sick for a couple months, and it got so bad my gal bladder gave out and I had to have it removed. I am telling you this, because I did not believe it was possible. Boy was I wrong. The lessons I learned that day were:
- Listen to your doctor (seems obvious but yes)
- Visible or invisible to the naked eye, gluten has the potential to make you really ill
- It was not the waiters fault, but mine for not asking about the fryer
- No one is going to care or know more about my health issues than me, and I have to be my own advocate (but I can be kind about it!)
- Eating out, anywhere, will always pose a risk
Not everyone will have the same reactions that I did. However this story touches on several topics that I will get into more later on about your well-being and how this lovely disease will change a lot more than what you eat. And believe it or not, most of it is for the better.
The good news is that you already know how to think about cross contamination: when it comes to raw meat in the kitchen and what is touches and when you need to clean it. Just imagine the little gluten molecules as the nasty germs, and mentally it can help you clarify the processes during food preparation.
The big take-away from this post: when you are eating or drinking anything, asking “What is in this?” is just as important as “How was it made?” before consuming it. End PSA.
Until next time!
Your fellow gluten free adventurer
Gluten Free Runner Gal 
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