Could Your Plate or Straw Be Glutening You?

What if you did everything right? 

You checked the food. 
You asked about cross-contact. 
You made sure everything was gluten-free. 

And you still got sick. 

What if the problem wasn’t the food at all? 

What if it was the straw in your drink...or even the plate your food was sitting on? 

I’ve actually gotten mildly sick from wheat-based straws before, so when I recently saw information about compostable plates made from wheat, I had to dig into it. 

And yes...this is apparently one more weird place gluten can hide. 

If you’re already thinking, “Great. Now I have to check my plates too?” 

Don’t panic. 

This episode is really about knowing what to look for—not being afraid of every disposable plate you see. 

 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

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Disclaimer And Why This Matters

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. So most of you out there probably understand a bit about cross contact when we're talking about food. But what if I told you you can get cross contact not only from food, but also what you're eating the food on or with? This is something I've been digging in recently because I've gotten mildly ill from wheat straws, and I recently found out that other products can have wheat in them and then get us cross-contaminated with gluten, which can be very surprising and something we may not really think about until we're informed. So in this episode, I want to inform you on what to look for and what might be cross-contaminating your food that isn't just somebody else's gluten food at maybe say a picnic or something, but it actually could be the plates and utensils. Let's dive in.

What Cross-Contact Looks Like Now

Carrie Saunders 0:58

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 could your plate or straw or maybe potential utensils be glutening you? So I know you might be thinking, great, now I have to take my check my plates too. I mean, seriously, I thought the same thing when I found out that some eco-friendly products are made from wheat. This episode is really about knowing what to look for, so I don't want you to be afraid of every possible plate you can see. So we're going to talk about how do we figure out whether our plate, say we're using a paper plate, could you know be causing us to get sick or cause contamination.

The Rise Of Wheat-Based Disposables

Carrie Saunders 2:09

A lot of companies are moving away from plastic and styrofoam, which is great for the environment. So now you'll see disposable products made from things like bamboo, sugar cane, palm leaf, wheat straw, wheat bran, and other plant fibers. And visually, some of these look like just regular brown paper plates, and that's what can make this tricky. You may not have any reason to think, wait, is there wheat in this? So this is why I want to inform everybody out there who is gluten-free and celiac that you need to be careful with the paper products that you're using. And what can be also really confusing is that some of these products are made from wheat straw. This technically does not have gluten in it because it's the wheat plant after the grain has been removed. So it's not quite the same as wheat flour or wheat bran, but there can still be cross contact with the grain during harvesting and manufacturing. That's where this can get a bit tricky. And some products aren't made with just wheat straw, they might also contain wheat bran, wheat fiber, and other wheat-derived ingredients that would contain gluten as well. So I would not necessarily say that if it says wheat straw, it definitely has gluten because it may or may not. But I wouldn't also assume that it's as safe.

Wheat Straw Labels And A Cider House Lesson

Carrie Saunders 3:21

For example, there's a local cider house that my husband and I go to, and they have honestly they've created me my own drink. They there we're great fans of them, local, great, nice family people that own the place and their workers are awesome. But they've recently switched to using a bit more eco-friendly products in there because they're pretty conscious about that. And I found out maybe I think a month or ago or so that their new eco-friendly straws are not bamboo like I thought they might be. They're actually wheat straws. Now, I have used them several times. There's been times where I've not felt great, and there's times where I felt fine. Their wheat straws tend to say gluten-free on them, but they're not certified gluten-free. I had one of the um bartenders look for me because I know him pretty well, and he's really kind about trying to help me figure out things like this. And so what I've done is I've just decided not to use them at all because there's sometimes I'm actually getting sick from it, it seems like. And now it's mild, of course. But this is an example where wheat straw, even though it says gluten-free, because they're not using the grain part of the wheat to create these wheat straws, it is getting some cross-contamination, I believe, just given my experiences over, you know, several months of wondering why I got a little bit of gluten when I was at a location that's always been very safe for me because they don't really actually serve hardly any beer. They're a cider house where they you know make their own cider, and so they mostly serve ciders and cocktails. And so I've you know accidentally found out that these wheat straws were probably creating me a little bit of sickness, really not that bad because it wasn't a whole lot of gluten, but I could still notice it on some nights. So when I recently found out that our paper plates, or and that's in air quotes paper, can be created from wheat-based grains and the wheat straw, that got me

When Gluten Transfers Into Food

Carrie Saunders 5:20

curious about this a bit more. And so I did a little bit of digging, and there have been studies that have looked into this, and they looked into whether gluten can actually move from biodegradable plates and straws into gluten-free food. And researchers have found that with certain wheat-based products, it can happen. Not every product they tested was a problem, so that is important to know. But some wheat-based plates and straws did transfer measurable gluten into food or drinks. And here's the key too longer contact, moisture, and sometimes heat seemed to make a difference. So this isn't just about the product itself, it's also about how you are using the product. So that drink with the wheat straw in it, it was probably fine at first, but then as it sat there in my drink, because I really don't drink that fast, I have one drink if we go out, it will, you know, eventually leach into it, it seemed like, at least in my experience. So this isn't just theoretical. There is research behind this that wheat can or gluten can transfer from these wheat-based plates into your food, especially if they are not careful about making sure that the wheat product that is being used in the plate is only the wheat straw and doesn't include any of the grain parts in

Safer Choices And Closing Reminders

Carrie Saunders 6:38

it. So, a takeaway from this is if you are out and about, and maybe you're at a picnic or something, and you see a brown plate, you might want to start asking questions. You honestly, I think I'm honestly going to bring my own paper plates when I'm in a situation like that, just in case. And if you're at the store and you're wanting to get more biodegradable, more eco-friendly products, make sure that you look. Does it contain wheat, brand, wheat flour, wheat fiber, wheat pulp, wheat-based edible straws, any of those things? If it only says something big like plant fiber, you might not be sure what it's made from. You would check with the manufacturer. So you might want to just make sure you're using plates that don't have any wheat in it at all, unless it's certified gluten-free, which sounds ridiculous to have to think about that for our plates. But it's something I would definitely caution about, especially if you're celiac, because you might get that gluten crossed into your food. So, in conclusion, I don't want you to leave this episode being afraid of every disposable plate at a picnic, but I do want you to know that as packaging changes, we're seeing new materials come into contact with our food, which can include wheat, you know, gluten with from wheat. And some of these materials can make you sick. If something doesn't add up and you are eating and you know that you should have a you know safe meal, but you're eating on a mystery plate and when you haven't, you know, checked out that could be what it is. I just want to make sure that our community is aware of this because it's not something I would have thought of. I didn't even think about those straws being wheat-based. So hopefully this helps make you more informed so that you can make some better decisions for you. And so you don't have this mystery getting glutened and you don't know where it came from. Because sometimes it's not what's in your food, it's what your food is sitting on. 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 theglutenfreengineer.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 healthcare professional for medical questions, concerns, or advice specific to your health.