I've mentioned this a few times in previous posts. However, it bears repeating because of a news story that broke out last week, in regards to a Celiac coming in contact with cross-contamination.
A woman in Connecticut contacted a local TV station after being 'glutened' at a restaurant. Kate Bradley, who is diagnosed with Celiac disease, was very excited to find out that a local pizza restaurant now had gluten free pizza. Immediately, she placed an order. During her lunch hour, she sat down for some pizza. After taking a few bites, she noticed some breaded eggplant underneath the spinach on her pizza. She notified the staff of the issue. A few minutes later, she fell ill.
Bradley decided to contact the local TV station in hopes to raise awareness of the severity of the situation.
The owner of the restaurant emailed Bradley, saying that the restaurant is not 100% gluten free. Therefore, he cannot guarantee the safeness of their gluten free products. He plans on implementing some changes on how his kitchen staff does things, in hopes this reduces the risk of cross-contamination (source: http://www.wfsb.com/story/23591500/woman-gets-sick-after-eating-pizza-described-as-gluten-free).
Here is where I'm going to become a tad preachy.
We have Celiac disease. We cannot go out to eat on a whim. We have to be careful. Yes, many restaurants have gluten free menus. However, this DOESN'T mean you WON'T get 'glutened.' We have to do our homework. We have to research. We have to call the restaurants ahead of time. We have to give staff ample time to prepare for our order.
All Celiacs have made this same mistake: We've gone into a restaurant because they now offer gluten free options. We enthusiastically eat our food. We feel pretty normal to be eating in a restaurant with our friends. Several minutes later, we get violently ill.
It's going to happen. However, we need to learn from the experience and be careful the next time around. 95% of the restaurants out there aren't classically trained on how to handle gluten free food orders. We have to look at every restaurant (whether they have a gluten free menu or not) as a risk.
If you want to eat somewhere, do your research. Call the restaurant ahead. Let them know you're coming, and what you require. Take the necessary precautions so you don't get 'glutened.'
Am I saying that after taking precautions you won't get sick? No. It can still happen. This is why I say, "Proceed with caution."
photo credit: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ab/06/24/ab0624f8aae34462ab04ee8c324328c2.jpg
