Gluten Free Menu Doesn't Equal Gluten Free Dining!

You've just discovered that one of your favorite restaurants has a

Oh joy! :) 

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but...

don't go getting to excited just yet.

I know, I know..it really says 

"GLUTEN FREE"

on the menu

and guess what they even have an entire GF Menu printed up just for 

lil-ole-me

but 

and take a few minutes to understand exactly what a

restaurant that offers 
true gluten free foods

r-e-a-l-l-y

goes through to be considered 

Gluten Free.

____________________________________________________________________

First of all, 

I have to tell you that I was really shocked at the lack of 

restaurants on this list  in my area, compared to the number

of establishments that have GF offerings 

and full blown GF menus!

Honestly,

There are only a few restaurants I will eat at now

and those will be restaurants that work

hand-in-hand

with the GIG to provide a 

Gluten Free Dining Experience

for

those of us who

CAN NOT CONSUME GLUTEN. 

and here is why...

We can not consume any gluten as it damages our small intestines and make us

very sick. 

And the only treatment for us is a strict

GLUTEN FREE DIET
for LIFE.

With that being said.

I work hard to insure we do not ingest 

Gluten and I refuse to go out to dinner at a place that 

doesn't understand Celiac or Gluten Intolerance 

and who's only effort appears to be

ordering GF menus from their 

AWESOMELY TALENTED CREATIVE DEPARTMENT.

Keep in  mind. 

I'm not saying the foods they list on their GF Menus

are not GF.

{Not saying that at all}

But there is this one very big detail called...

CROSS CONTAMINATION.

[You may be wondering what I am talking about]

and that's cool.

And this actually brings me to my next point...

__________________________________________________________________

What's the BIG DEAL with 

CROSS CONTAMINATION?

I mean come on already. Some ask me, Aren't you being a tad obsessive with this??????

Let your hair down for God's sake and don't be so uptight!

IF IT SAYS GLUTEN FREE IT HAS TO BE SAFE! RIGHT?

I'm very sad to tell you this but...

NOT TRUE! NOT TRUE AT ALL!

{Oh [sigh] if only it were that easy}

For instance.

Did you know...

And for us

 even very small amounts of gluten (more than 20 parts per million) are potentially dangerous.
So flour hovering over our food as it's being prepared is not a good thing
AT ALL!

Flour dust in the air, shared equipment with dust particles, use of common utensils and baking equipment, and inadequate cleaning and scheduling of GF vs. gluten- production are major causes of cross-contamination of gluten-free products and the foods restaurants serve. 

As you see...GF is a lot more than just having a 
GLUTEN FREE MENU.
RIGHT?

__________________________________________________


 

For me piece of mind is everything and knowing...

The GIG,
Gluten Intolerance Group,
works hard to insure that the
fine dining establishments that partner with them meet
very high
quality standards and training regiments before
ever recommending them.
That means a lot to me.

 This
allows me to feel safe and comfortable
when dining out.

Does this mean I put my guard down?

Oh Gosh No!!

I will still remain very diligent to express my concerns to the wait staff
and speak with a manager if I do not feel 100%
comfortable.

and I hope you will do the same.
:)

________________________________________________________________

If you would like more information on how restaurants should avoid cross contamination
and the strict guidelines they need to follow when working with the
GIG then
check out this awesome resource

Hope you have been enlightened by this article.

 I welcome comments and would love to hear about your GF dining experiences.

Kimmy :)