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Cross contamination

Johnny55400

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Johnny55400 Apprentice
Johnny55400
Posted

I have been recently diagnosticated with Celiac. I do not have any symptoms, and I am kind of skeptical. Yet, I decided to trust the blood test and biopsy conclusions and start the gluten free diet.

What does cross contamination exactly mean? Obviously cross contamination is a serious concern for people affected with the presence of little gluten that make them sick. If you don’t get sick when exposed to cross contamination, is it still an issue and will damage your little intestine even though you do not ingest gluten? If you prefer: does cross contamination exposure a problem because you may be sick or because it is going to cause intestinal damage? Or both… 

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Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted
4 minutes ago, Johnny55400 said:

If you prefer: does cross contamination exposure a problem because you may be sick or because it is going to cause intestinal damage? Or both… 

Both, any time the tiniest amount of gluten residue or crumb goes through your intestines it will trigger a antibody reaction and your immune system will wreak havoc on your body, this reaction can go on for weeks-months of ongoing damage weather you notice it or not. And over time can lead to nutrient deficiency, allergies, complications, other auto immune disease, and even cancer.

Cross contamination can happen from touching gluten food then your food, touching a door handle someone that was just eating a doughnut touched then you touch it then touch your mouth or food your going to eat without washing it off. Cutting boards with gluten crumbs, wooden spoons with gluten embedded in the fibers, scratched pots/pans that might contain gluten in the scratches and not wash off.

Cross contamination is common in restaurants due to cooking utensils, poorly cleaned plates, people handling your food, shared pots, pans, spices, etc.
Cross contamination in a packing facility for food, example of a current one, company makes a sauced vegetable frozen product with wheat in it, they use the same packing machine but stop the line, hose it down then start the plain veggies through it....the plain veggies are going to have chances of containing gluten. This can happen with snack mixes, dried foods, flours etc. This is why many of us avoid stuff in a shared facility.
Condiment jars and butter containers can get crumbs in them from people sticking spoons back in them

Johnny55400 Apprentice
Johnny55400
Posted
  • Author

So it is impossible to be 100% sure that you have not been exposed. The only sign that you have been exposed is when you get sick. Scary!

Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted
3 minutes ago, Johnny55400 said:

So it is impossible to be 100% sure that you have not been exposed. The only sign that you have been exposed is when you get sick. Scary!

You look for food that are certified gluten free, as in they tested it below 20ppm to ensure it is safe, you also learn certain brands to trust, and as always whole foods are safe. A apple is a apple, a banana comes with a safe built in wrapper, eggs do not contain gluten...you learn other things and brand to trust.

You learn to wash your hands before handling food, and right after getting in the house, rinse off fresh produce before eating it, and not eating out except at places you trust and have measures in place for celaic with this diet....or eat a gluten free only restaurants.

IF you suspect your stilling getting CCed constantly you can go get the blood test again and see where your antibody numbers are, in those of us with them this can be a indicator of still being constantly exposed and damage being done. Due to the time it takes for antibodies to build up in the intestines and get to the blood stream it is not very effective at detecting the occasional CC. They are working on some new methods for seeing if your adhere to the diet with mixed results.

For testing food...like processed food you want to be sure is gluten free, they have testers like NIMA Tester that can detect gluten in food. They also have enzymes that can break down "SOME" of the gluten and would be great if you suspect CCed food....not a miracle pill but I did notice it reduced my symptoms of my last CC and I had none of my normally lingering effects.

Johnny55400 Apprentice
Johnny55400
Posted
  • Author

Thanks. Very informative.

 

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      Thats the thing, diagnosed in 1994 before foods eliminated celiac by biopsy colonoscopy at Kaiser in Santa Clara  now condo's but it has to be somewhere in medical land.1999 got married, moved, changed doctor's was with former for 25 years told him I waz celiac and that.Fast forward to last year.i googled celiac specialist and what popped up was a former well known heard of hospital. I thought I would get answers to be put through unnecessary colonoscopy KNOWING im glutenfree and she wasn't listening to me for help rather than screening me for celiac! Im already diagnosed seeking medical help.I did all the appointments ask from her and when I wanted my records se t to my pcp, thats when the with holding my records when I repeatedly messaged, it was down played the seriousness and I was labeled unruly when I asked why am I going through all this when its the celiac name that IS what my issue and All my ailments surrounding it related. I am dea6eoth the autoimmune part though my blood work is supposedly fabulous. Im sibo positive,HLA-DQ2 positive, dealing with skin, eye and now ms.I was employed as a bus driver making good money, I loved it for the few years my body let me do until I was yet again fired.i went to seek medical help because my body isn't well just to be made a disability chaser. Im exhausted,glutenfree, no lawyer will help and disability is in limbo thanks to the lax on my health from the fabulous none celiac Google bay area dr snd team. Its not right.
    • trents
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      Welcome to the celiac.com community @EssexMum! First, let me correct some misinformation you have been given. Except in the case of what is known as "refractory" celiac disease, which is very rare, it is not true that the "fingers" will not grow back once a consistently gluten free diet is adopted. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition whereby the ingestion of gluten triggers an inflammatory process that damages the millions of tiny finger-like projections that make up the lining of the small bowel. We call this the "villous lining". Over time, continued ingestion of gluten on a regular basis results in the wearing down of these fingers which greatly reduces the surface area of this very important membrane. It is where essentially all the nutrition from what we eat is absorbed. So, losing this surface area results in inefficiency in nutrient absorption and often to medical problems related to nutrient deficiencies. Again, if a gluten-free diet is consistently observed, the villous lining of the small bowel should rebound. "We was informed that her body absorbs the gluten rather then rejecting it and that is why she doesn't react to the gluten straight away, it will be a build up and then the pains start. " That sounds like unscientific BS to me. But it does sound like your stepdaughter may have a type of celiac disease we know as "silent" celiac disease, meaning, she is asymptomatic or at least the symptoms are not intense enough to usually notice. She is not completely asymptomatic, however, because you stated was experiencing tummy aches off and on. Cristiana gives some good suggestions about ordering "safe" food for your stepdaughter from restaurant menus in Europe. You must realize that as the step parent who only has her part of the time you have no real control over how cooperative her other set of parents are with regard to your stepdaughter's needs to eat gluten free. It sounds like they don't really understand the seriousness of the matter. This is very common in family settings where other members are ignorant about celiac disease and the damage it can do to body systems. So, they don't take it seriously. The best you can do is make suggestions. Perhaps print out some info about celiac disease from the Internet to send them. Being inconsistent with the gluten free diet keeps the inflammation smoldering and delays or inhibits healing of the villous lining. 
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    • cristiana
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      Good evening @EssexMum You are quite right to be concerned about this situation.  Once diagnosed as coeliac, always a coeliac, and the way to heal  is through adopting and sticking to a strict gluten diet. That said... I have travelled twice to France since my diagnosis, firstly in May 2013 and again in August 2019.   My spoken French isn't bad, and whilst there I tried my best to explain my needs to chefs and catering staff, and I read labels very carefully when shopping in supermarkets, but both times I came away with worsening gastric symptoms and pain. Interestingly,  after the second holiday, my annual coeliac review took place the following month and although I'd been very careful to avoid gluten all year, thanks to that August holiday my coeliac antibodies were elevated,  Clearly I hadn't been imagining these symptoms and they must have been caused by gluten sneaking in somehow. When I spoke to my gastroenterologist on my return, who is an excellent doctor, he told me with a smile that this was a very common experience in France among his patients, and not to worry too much about it! In fact, before we went away in May 2013, which was just after I had been formally diagnosed, he told me not to even bother trying to adopt a gluten free diet until I returned, knowing what France was like, but I was feeling so awful at that time I ignored his advice and at least tried to make a start with it. (I ought to say - both these visits were some time ago, so perhaps things are a lot better there now.) So what to do?  I would say at least try to explain to catering staff the situation - they should be able to rustle up a plate of cheese, boiled eggs, tuna, salad and fruit, and if things like crackers and gluten-free pot noodle or oats can be packed in the UK, those can be produced at mealtimes.    Of course, most larger supermarkets in France do now cater for coeliacs, but when I was last there the the choice wasn't as wide a range as we have in the UK but I think that is partly because the French like to cook from scratch, whereas our gluten-free aisles have quite a lot of dried or pre-baked goods in them/convenience foods, because I think we as a nation tend to use them more. I would be worth doing a bit of research on the internet before the trip, - the words you want are 'sans gluten'.  I've just googled 'sans gluten Disney Paris" and this came up.  I do hope at least some of this is of help. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g2079053-zfz10992-Disneyland_Paris_Ile_de_France.html  Whatever befalls in France, at least your stepdaughter can resume her usual diet on her return. On a related tack, would you be happy to post any positive findings/tips upon her return - it might be of use to others travelling to Disneyland Paris with children in future? Cristiana
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