If you are somebody that has recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease or you’re living with somebody that has been recently diagnosed with coeliac disease you’ll have many questions about how to manage the dietary requirements. This will include what to eat and how to manage issues of cross-contamination within your kitchen. One of the most common questions that will be asked is how long does gluten stay on surfaces such as kitchen benches?
If a bench becomes contaminated with gluten crumbs or flour it will remain on the surface for an extended period of time unless you intervene and clean it. You can reasonably expect that gluten will stay on the surface of the kitchen bench for a week or so at least and more likely significantly longer as gluten proteins do not break down readily and can remain stable for a long period of time.
However, the removal of gluten from a surface is not difficult and does not require any specialized cleaning equipment or solutions. A standard surface spray and sponge to remove any excess gluten from the surface before you prepare gluten-free food and it will be safe.
When you visit a dietician for the first time after being diagnosed with coeliac disease you will find that they will tend to overemphasize the potential for cross-contamination of gluten. The reason for this is that it is possible for coeliacs to accumulate enough gluten in their system if they have small amounts of cross-contamination occurring on a consistent basis.
As such it is common for dietitians to recommend things like a separate toaster and the use of separate spreads such as butter which can easily be contaminated when crumbs are left in them when other people eat gluten-containing bread.
My general advice to you is, however, to follow what the dietitians recommend as it is generally considered to be good practice at managing the risk of cross-contamination even though it is, in reality, overstated.
What Is The Risk Of Cross-Contamination With Gluten Containing Foods?
There has been a recent 2019 study that looked at 3 specific scenarios which may occur in a kitchen that will give you some indication of the degree of cross-contamination that is likely to occur and also a very good idea on how to prevent it.
The study looked at the situation where water used to cook gluten pasta was reused to cook gluten-free pasta. In that scenario, the gluten that was detected on the gluten-free pasta was approximately 33 parts per million. This is above the threshold of 20 parts per million which is recommended as being safe for coeliacs, however when the pasta was rinsed the detectable gluten fell below 20 parts per million.
In the second scenario, both gluten-containing and gluten-free bread was toasted in the same toaster in an area where researchers observed many gluten-containing crumbs on the surface of the toaster which they did not attempt to clean before testing the gluten-free bread in this scenario. They found that the gluten-free level remained below 20 parts per million.
In the final scenario, a gluten-containing cupcake was cut with a knife on a surface and then washed and claim with conventional cleaning products before it was used again to cut up a gluten-free cake. The detectable gluten level remained below 20 parts per million in this scenario.
This study demonstrated that you really only need some take a common-sense approach to cross-contamination in order to keep your coeliac person free from gluten which means adhering to standard hygiene practices that would apply to the preparation of any type of food.
Is A Little Bit Of Gluten OK For A Coeliac?
You may also be wondering if you are new to coeliac disease and whether coeliacs can tolerate a small amount of gluten periodically either if it is consumed intentionally or unintentionally. The answer to this is that it is not recommended at all that coeliacs indulge in gluten as it will have effects on them immediately and can potentially affect them for quite some time.
The reason for this is that coeliac disease occurs when the villi in the digestive tract lay flat rather than standing up as they would in a normal person. When they lay flat that reduces a coeliac’s ability to absorb nutrients and the recovery of the villi can take some time, therefore if you indulge periodically you may as well not be on a gluten-free diet.
Can Gluten Be Transferred Through Touch?
One of the other common questions that are asked is whether can gluten be transferred through touch or through the skin and the answer to that is no. Gluten is generally not absorbed through the skin so as long as you do not ingest it you are unlikely to have any problems with a reaction.
How Long Does It Take For Gluten To Make You Sick?
If a coeliac ingests gluten either accidentally or intentionally it will take approximately 2 hours for them to feel the effects of the symptoms in most cases. The extent of these symptoms will vary depending upon the specific coeliac and how long they have been gluten-free.
For example, my wife was diagnosed with coeliac after the birth of our first child when the child was not putting on weight when feeding on breast milk which was attributed to the coeliac disease. Prior to that time she ate a normal diet and did not have any problem eating gluten.
However, after several years on a gluten-free diet, she decided to indulge in a McChicken and was violently ill approximately 2 hours afterward which showed that she had become more gluten-sensitive over time once adopting a gluten-free diet.
This does not always happen to every coeliac and the extent of the symptoms may simply be a swollen belly or generally just feeling unwell, it will greatly depend on the individual person.
I hope you found this article useful and are able to successfully cater to the coeliac in your life, Good Luck.
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