If you are a recently diagnosed coeliac you may be just starting to learn about all the options you can possibly have to eat particularly in the area of takeaway where they’re a lot of options such as fries that really should be gluten-free. However, many fast food companies such as Burger King prepare all their food in the same fryer gluten-free or not. So is it safe to eat gluten-free food that has been prepared in the same deep fryer as gluten-containing food?
Gluten contained within the food is not destroyed by deep frying the food. This is because gluten is denatured at around 300C and most fryers typically run at a temperature of 190C. Therefore gluten-free food must be prepared in a separate fryer for those people with gluten intolerance.
What Is The Minimum Safe Level Of Gluten For A Coeliac To Consume?
The minimum safe level for coeliacs to consume on a daily basis is generally recognized to be approximately 20 milligrams. At this level, the volume of gluten is considered to be negligible and therefore will not affect the villi within the small intestine which is most affected by this protein.
As the levels are quite low most dietitians dealing with coeliacs tend to encourage them to avoid the potential for cross-contamination of their foods which typically entails using separate spreads such as margarine which can easily be contaminated by the bread that they applied to.
Additionally, they all also recommend creating separate locations in which gluten-free foods can be prepared. This includes having things like separate toasters to avoid cross-contamination.
Can Coeliacs Eat Gluten Every Now And Then?
Coeliacs generally should not have any gluten at all. They need to remain on a gluten-free diet for life to avoid some of the health consequences of being exposed to gluten. The reason for this is that a small amount of gluten will affect their ability to absorb nutrients for an extended period of time after the gluten is consumed.
So occasionally eating gluten means that you are constantly affecting the ability of your body to absorb food which is not recommended at all.
How Do You Tell If A Product Is Gluten Free?
If you are relatively new to being a coeliac one of the most common questions that is asked is how do you tell if a product is actually gluten-free. Fortunately, the food labeling laws in most countries are very helpful as they force manufacturers to disclose the ingredients going into the food which generally makes it relatively easy to identify gluten-free products, however, there are a few things that you need to know to maximize your choices.
Typically most manufacturers will highlight any ingredients that contain allergens which include gluten, soy, milk, and nuts to name a few. In many cases, they will do this by bolding the particular ingredient which may contain the allergen, and additionally, they may also choose to put an overall statement at the bottom of the ingredients list such as this product contains gluten.
However, there are a couple of areas where the labeling of products can cause confusion. The first area that is common is the labeling of sugars that are derived from wheat-based grains such as glucose and dextrose. These products are extremely highly processed to the point where any gluten that was present originally has been removed therefore any sugar produced from a wheat source is actually safe for a coeliac to eat.
However, despite this fact, the labeling laws in most countries still require companies to disclose that the product has been derived from wheat which means that there are certain circumstances where you will have within the ingredients list products that have been derived from wheat but are still safe to eat.
The second area that can cause a great deal of confusion is the statement “This Product May Contain Gluten”. This is typically made on the basis that companies make both gluten-containing and gluten-free products in the same factory, most likely on the same equipment.
As many companies are not actively testing the gluten levels within their products they cannot be 100% confident that a product is gluten-free even though none of the ingredients may have gluten in them.
As a result of this, it is very common for companies to state that the product may contain gluten for legal purposes. However, the reality is that these products are safe to eat for coeliacs because generally equipment is cleaned between runs, and also the size of the runs is extremely large in most cases. This means that if there was any gluten present on the equipment during the change over it is likely to be heavily diluted by the gluten-free components. As such the product can be considered gluten-free and is safe to consume.
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