Kitchen Safety Tips for Celiac Disease
By Lana Bandoim
People with celiac disease must avoid gluten because it affects their health. The gluten-free diet is recommended for those who have this disease. However, keeping the kitchen free from all gluten is a challenge, so you may want to consider the following tips.
The Best Option
The best option for people with celiac disease is to make the entire kitchen a gluten-free area. This eliminates the dangers of cross-contamination and makes it easier to cook. There is no need to worry about grabbing an item from the wrong shelf that has gluten or using the wrong pan. However, some people cannot do this at home and must share a kitchen with those who still eat gluten.
Separate Items
If you cannot convert the entire kitchen into a gluten-free zone, then create separate areas and buy different items for people who eat gluten and for those who do not. For example, you can have one shelf in the cabinet labeled as gluten-free and another shelf that allows gluten. The same thing can be done in the fridge or pantry.
Consider buying separate cutting boards, knives and pans to cook gluten-free food. The risk of cross-contamination is extremely high in the kitchen so having separate items helps. Label everything and try to get things that are a different color. For example, you can use red pans for the gluten food and blue ones for the gluten-free food.
Label Food
Cross-contamination often happens when a utensil is used in a gluten-free container. If you cut wheat bread with a knife, do not use the same knife to scrape peanut butter from the jar. However, it is hard for many people to remember this, so labeling is important. Label one jar as gluten-free and the other one as regular. Consider labeling everything to make it easier for people to use.
Avoid Wheat Flour
Even if you have a shared kitchen that allows gluten, consider banning wheat flour. People who are very sensitive to gluten can react to it being in the air. Flour spreads easily in the kitchen and is hard to clean up. It also has tendency to stay in the air for hours because the tiny particles can move through the entire house.
Kitchen safety is an important part of the gluten-free diet. You must avoid gluten at home and other locations. Try to make the kitchen a safe haven for people with celiac disease.
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