Can Cross Contamination Really Make You Sick?

You order something gluten-free. 
Or someone tells you, “Don’t worry, it’s safe.” 

But something feels… off. 

And later, you don’t feel great. 

And now you’re wondering… 
was that actually cross contamination? 

Or am I overthinking this? 

This is one of the most confusing parts of living gluten-free. 

Because the food looks safe…
the ingredients seem safe… 
but something still goes wrong. 

So today we’re answering a really important question: 

👉 Can cross contamination actually make you sick? 

And by the end of this episode, you’ll understand what’s really happening, what to watch for, and how to think about it without spiraling into fear. 

 This episode is brought to you by Find Me Gluten Free—your go-to app for discovering safe, gluten-free dining options wherever you go!
Get your exclusive discount for our listeners at theglutenfreeengineer.com/findmeglutenfree
Because dinning out gluten-free shouldn’t be a guessing game! 

Transcript

Safety Disclaimer And The Big Question

Carrie Saunders 0:00

Quick reminder before we get started on this episode. This podcast is based on my personal experiences and isn't medical advice. You order something gluten-free or someone tells you, don't worry, it's safe, but something feels off and later you don't feel great. And now you're wondering, was that actually cross-contamination? Or am I overthinking this? This is one of the most confusing parts of living gluten-free because the food looks safe, but the ingredients seem safe, but something still goes wrong. So today we're answering a really important question. Can cross contamination actually make you sick? And by the end of the episode, you'll understand what's really happening, what to watch for, and how to think about it without spiraling into fear. Let's jump in. Welcome to the Gluten Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, Kiri Saunders. In 2011, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, a moment that changed everything. But I was determined not to let it hold me back. With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer the gluten-free lifestyle, breaking down recipes, safety tips, travel hacks, and everything in between to rebuild a life I love. Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance, or simply choose to live gluten-free, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we simplify the gluten-free lifestyle, make it fun, and prove that you don't have to miss out on anything. Welcome back to the show. Today we're talking about can cross-contamination really make you sick? This is one of the most misunderstood parts of living gluten-free. Cross-contamination is where things stop being black and white and they start feeling really gray. It's where people doubt themselves. They get conflicting advice, and they also feel unsure on how strict to be. It can be very, very confusing. I know it was for sure for me in the beginning. So let's first talk about what cross-contamination actually really means. Cross-contamination can occur when gluten transfers from one surface or food to another. So even if that final food doesn't contain gluten ingredients, it can have gluten in it because of the environment. It also could be flour in the air. Say it's a pizza shop that makes their own pizza dough in-house, and they also have gluten-free crusts. If they're, you know, if there's flour in the air, it may get into your gluten-free pizza. Some other examples are shared cutting boards. Cutting boards are notorious for holding on to little pieces of food, including gluten, and it's one of those things that my dietitian first said to get rid of. All wooden utensils, all wooden cutting boards. So utensils are on here as well. Anything that has little tiny microscopic cracks and crevices can hold on to that gluten molecule and make you sick. Also, sheared toasters. You can't possibly clean out all the crumbs in a toaster. So this is one of the reasons you need to have a dedicated toaster if you have a mixed house and you have severe gluten sensitivity or celiac. Now they do make toaster sleeves if you'd like to try those out. I've never tried them out before. We actually kind of just don't have a toaster anymore. We have an air fryer that can act like a toaster oven. So we just use that because it's just one appliance that can do multiple things. Also, fryers can be cross-contaminated. The reason being is if a fryer has something that's breaded and flour in it, a little bit of that breading is going to come off into the oil. So then whenever they fry something that's actually gluten-free, that little bits of flour can stick to your food, and then you can get cross-contaminated that way. Also, hands, like whenever somebody is touching bread and then they go to touch something else, or say touching pizza, and then they go to touch something else, say a bag of chips, grab some bag, you know, some chips out of a bag, that can easily transfer gluten from one place to another. So it's not always about what is in the food, it's about what touched the food or what has gotten onto the food itself. So then, can it actually make you sick? So the simple answer is yes. If you're celiac, it can make you sick. You may not have symptoms, but it can definitely harm and affect your body. Even small amounts can trigger your immune response, inflammation, and symptoms. And for those that are very severely just gluten intolerant, it can still affect them too. It's not about the quantity like typical food reactions. It's about that immune response to that little bit of gluten. It's about your immune system recognizing it and setting off all the alarms, you know, whatever those alarms are for you, whatever your symptoms may be. So even tiny amounts can matter. And it's not because your body's weak, it's because your immune system is sensitive and it's trying to protect itself. Last I looked up the certified gluten-free guidelines, it was 20 parts per million, but there have been research and studies shown that people can get sick with as little as five parts per million. If you are a celiac, especially, and you are still having gluten issues, even if you're eating all certified gluten-free foods, it's worth talking to your doctor andor dietitian on a way to figure out what is going on and why you're still being affected. So part of the gray area behind this cross-contamination issue that we have to deal with is it sometimes feels inconsistent on our reactions and you know how much is going to bother us. Sometimes you'll react to cross-contamination and sometimes you don't. There are several factors that come into play here. It could be the amount of exposure, it could be your current inflammation level. So if you're already currently inflamed and you get a small amount, you're going to probably have issues. If you're not currently inflamed and you get that same small amount, you may or may not have issues. It also can be related to your general stress levels at the time, your sleep levels, all the things that make us a healthy and happy person. Some people can have delayed reactions, some people don't react right away. I myself can sometimes react within as little as an hour or two, and but there's also sometimes I don't react for a good 12 hours. It just really depends on what it is. For me, I have found that I react more strongly to the gluten in barley than I do the gluten in wheat. Now I definitely react strongly to the gluten in wheat. It's just not quite as severe, and I have different symptoms. Also, the gluten in wheat, especially whenever I was early on diagnosed, I found that I could tolerate a little bit of white, like a white uh wheat, like a white bread type of crumb or so, than I could like a whole grain type of wheat crumb. And the reason being, it seems to be is that the white parts already been processed so much that it's a little bit easier to pass through your system than the one that's a bit, you know, more true to the original plant, and that could cause more issues. It also could be just generally, you know, how healthy is your gut right now? How are you treating it? Are you abusing with it with some other type of food? And so then that makes you even more gluten sensitive whenever you get a little bit of gluten in it. So inconsistent reactions don't mean it's not real, they mean there are multiple variables involved in your reactions. So I mentioned this before on the show, but I want to talk about some real life examples. So, like I've I've talked about on some of the other podcast episodes, if you've listened to it, there was one time I was at a friend's house and we were having like a little celebration cookout thing, and there were a bag of chips behind the, you know, the next thing in line behind the uh buns. And I thought, oh, I probably shouldn't. I'm like, but I'm really hungry and they're gluten-free chips, I'll be all right. But no, I still got cross-contamined a little bit because somebody had stuck their hands in the bag after they already touched buns, and I got a little bit sick. So sheared handling can be a situation that can get you cross-contaminated and get you a little sick. And then I've also had situations where we were eating and it's kind of like more like a buffet style again, which is we that's where you got to be really careful. And somebody, you know, I watched somebody dip, you know, the mac and cheese spoon into the mashed potatoes, you know, the things that were supposed to be gluten-free, the mashed potatoes. Or another thing that's actually even sneakier can happen is say they aren't double dipping the spoons, but when they put those mashed potatoes on their plate, they dip it into their mac and cheese that's already on their plate, and then put the spoon back into the mashed potatoes. Even that tiny amount can affect celiacs. That's quite a little bit of a, you know, a small, very small amount potentially could be a big amount if they, you know, pick up a chunk of noodle, but that can even make you sick. So it could be not necessarily they're using the wrong spoon in the wrong dish. It could be they've touched the food that's on their plate that has gluten on it, and then put it back in the gluten-free pan. Simple little things can make a difference. You know, cross-contamination is often invisible, even to people who care, and they may not even realize what they did. Think about it. Going through the line before you had any food issues, you would just put whatever is on your plate that you wanted, and you probably didn't pay attention to whether you touched your food because the food's at that point clean, nobody's eaten from it yet, and you probably didn't think much about it. Now, unfortunately, sometimes many people don't understand the cross-contamination risk and what's going on there. The reason being is they don't see the reaction. We would see this a lot with our family and friends, especially at first. You know, they would be like, oh, it'll be all right, or oh, he'll be fine, maybe talking about one of my kids. And there was one time I just had to say, okay, well, then you can sit with him when he is in the bathroom, having trouble, or completely passed out in his bed because he's went into a gluten coma, or because he's got this huge migraine. Sure, you can like, you know, tend to him. Sometimes I would get a little upset because it was just frustrating as a mom trying to protect your child. And so sometimes people don't see the reaction. I probably shouldn't have been snippy like that, but you know, sometimes for a tired mom, somebody do. And so over time, you can just try to help educate them that small amounts do matter. Many times they assume they don't matter. They don't really quite get it. Um, they sometimes compare it to preferences. Once I started equating uh celiac disease to an allergy, that helped people understand it more, even though it's actually not an allergy, it's an immune response. But they understand with a food allergy, you can't even have a tiny amount. So that was like my point and trying to have them understand that, you know, this is like a food allergy, a little bit will affect them. And it may not send them into the hospital directly or send me into the hospital, whomever we're talking about at the time, but it will make them feel terrible and it will make them feel sick. So if someone doesn't understand the mechanism behind it or why it is tiny, but it will hurt them, they won't quite understand the risk. So the more you can kindly educate, then that can really help. So, how careful do you actually really need to be if you're celiac or highly gluten intolerant? What we need to do is try to balance, you know, a non-fear-based guidance. We want to try not to panic, but we want to also be very aware and very diligent. For me, this was hard at first. You know, I would panic sometimes when I wasn't sure if something was going to make me sick, simply because I just didn't want to feel terrible. I was finally healing, I was finally feeling good. We finally figured out what was wrong with me. And it kind of would sometimes put me in a panic mode at first on whether I would get sick or not. It's something you got to work through and find that balance and not be panicky, but just to be very aware. Because it's not about being afraid of the food, it's about understanding where the real risks are so that you can, you know, protect yourself and feel good. And so the whole point of this episode is the goal is not fear, it's clarity and education on how this cross-contamination can happen. So we want to use this awareness and knowledge to help us, but not create anxiety. So we want to try to, you know, bring that balance away from anxiety, away from panic, and to inform knowledge so that we can make the best decisions for our body. So to recap a few of our main points here, cross-contamination is real. It's a proven issue with celiacs and with those highly sensitive to gluten. It can cause symptoms and immune response, or it can not, but you can still get damaged if you're a celiac. Most of the time, cross-contamination is invisible, and confidence will come from understanding, not guessing what you're doing and how you're approaching what you eat. One of the most helpful things you can do is identify your high-risk situations and focus your attention there. You don't need to control everything, just the things that matter most. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Gluten Free Engineer. If you found value in this story, please share it with someone who might need encouragement on their own gluten-free journey. For more tips, recipes, resources, and even links to my YouTube channel, head on over to theglutenfreeengineer.com. It's your one-stop hub to make gluten-free living simple, fun, and full of flavor. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss out on an episode. And we will see you next week. The Gluten Free Engineer Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. I share my personal experiences and stories about living with celiac disease and navigating a gluten free lifestyle. This podcast does not provide medical advice. Always consult with a qualified health care professional for medical questions, concerns, or advice specific to your health.