When I was first diagnosed with coeliac disease I thought it literally meant that I couldn't eat bread, but as time went on I realised how much more there is to it.
Generally eating out in restaurants is ok but only if I grill the staff about cross contamination.
For coeliacs cross contamination comes down to surfaces not being wiped properly, fryers mixing gluten/non-gluten ingredients, sharing toasters and the way food is made in a factory.
One of the most irritating cross contamination things is chips. When chips are fried in the same oil as something breaded e.g onion rings, I can't eat them. This feels so stupid to me as there is no reason for them to have gluten on them, however some restaurants just don't think that they could be taking away a staple part of a meal for a lot of people.
I also used to work in a cafe where they advertised gluten free toast but failed to mention that they toast it in the same toaster as regular toast. They also put everything on the grill from ciabattas to goats cheese meaning that I couldn't eat anything grilled or toasted at work. This was an issue as it meant if I didn't bring lunch in I was working in an environment where I couldn't eat anything and I sadly once discovered that I was sensitive from eating something that was cross contaminated and had to leave early.
A lot of coeliacs are nervous to discuss their dietary requirements in depth with restaurant staff due to the stigmas attached to the gluten free fad diet and i'm sure there will have been plenty of people going to cafes like the one I worked at and seeing gluten free toast and thinking it is fine to eat. Rarely do I ever see coeliac friendly labels as opposed to just gluten free labels; there needs to be a differentiation as it would cut out the worry of cross contamination and shows that the restaurant takes the disease seriously.
It does worry me that a lot of restaurants aren't on top of their gluten free knowledge and it's always a pleasant surprise when they are when really it should be normalised.
This is the rant side of me coming out but why don't restaurants fully know what is going into their food? Why have I had staff stare at me so blankly when I ask if something is gluten free or cross contaminated?
I once went for tapas and asked if the potatoes were fried with anything glutenous and the waitress looked at me irritably and said 'it's potato..'. Can you guess what happened? It was mixed with gluten, I reacted but I had ordered it anyway due to her making me feel like an idiot for asking. Staff need to be more understanding of the disease and generally all restaurants need to get on it with their dietary info.
Eating out is a lovely thing to do and something I have always enjoyed, however living with coeliac disease does make it more difficult. It is a serious thing and restaurants need to see it that way. However, I would always say if you are coeliac don't stop yourself from eating out and enjoying a good meal. You will just need to do that extra bit of research into where you can eat and always mention your disease and the significance of cross contamination to staff.
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