Cross Contamination: Can airborne gluten hurt me?

I think the first thing we need to ask before digging into this question is whether or not gluten can become airborne.

When thinking about baking or using any particle type substance containing gluten; the first thing I think of is getting flour everywhere. Hand prints on my pants, in my hair and all over the bench. With that in mind it should be easy to answer that question. Yes it is physically possible for gluten to become airborne.

So now down to the real question. Is it possible that airborne gluten will contaminate me.

When the flour particles are flying around in the air and landing on bench space and utensils; of course you are also inhaling them. You might not think that inhaling gluten particles is such a big deal however your nose and mouth are all connected and if you breath in the particles through your nose they can be transferred through your mucus into your digestive tract.

When considering this in respect to food preparation in a non gluten free environment airborne contamination is a real threat and it can do damage to your intestines. However, airborne gluten is more of a threat, in any restaurant that uses dry flour in their cooking area. Pizzerias, Italian restaurants that make fresh pasta and any other cuisine that employs the use of dry flour during preparation should be avoided entirely. This includes bakeries that do not have a separate preparation and cooking area for their gluten free products.

Although restaurants that do not use dry flour or other particle type gluten products in cooking or preparation are considered safer they still possess the potential to contaminate you. So always eat out at your own discretion.

Shared ovens and microwaves should also be avoided as food tends to splatter around the edges and can contaminate your gluten free food unless properly washed.

 

 

15 thoughts on “Cross Contamination: Can airborne gluten hurt me?

  1. My workplace will be making pre made chocolate chip cookies (such as pillsbury or Nestlé tollhouse for example) everyday in our small center for our customers. I am very concerned that I will feel very sick due to the constant exposure everyday with the gluten particles in the air. Since they are not making the cookies handmade here, will I be affected? Because there won’t be flour all over the office? Or is the flour being baked still count as airborne gluten exposure? I am very sensitive to smells and concerned I will feel nauseous everyday, because there is no way to avoid the smell. Basically can gluten still affect celiacs in environments without flour but are baking items that contain flour? I have seen that it has to be a certain volume of gluten for it to affect you.

    1. Hi Madison;
      The research into airborne gluten is quite minimal. I know a lot of bakers who work everyday in normal bakeries that haven’t had reactions and some that have. I think it will be a trial for you but it is my opinion that you should be ok as you’ve said there won’t be flour all over the office. In most cases those who are affected are working with the gluten in a hands on manner. However, if you are concerned definitely get in for a follow up with your doctor after the production has begun.

  2. Hi there, can be other than flour a different type of airborne CC, like for example frying salami for my kids or cooking anything for them and smelling all that food? newly diagnosed, only one in my home, still learning, thank you.

    1. Hi Gloria;
      I haven’t read any research or heard from any experts that the gluten molecules vaporizing is possible. Therefore, smelling food is fine. The concern with flour and other powder substances is because they have particles that can become airborne and get into the nasal passage and then travel down the throat. The contamination risk for cooking something like salami is more the obvious like using the same utensils, touching the oil or product and forgetting you’ve done so and eating something and so on.
      Always happy to help if you need more information.
      – Ashlee

  3. Hi , i just found out i have coeliac , i being working in factory for 10 years where i have being exposed to Gluten airborne power in 90% of are products, very dusty, find it very hard to wear paper mask, , is it possible i could got coeliac from this,?

    1. Hi David;
      Coeliac Disease is an auto immune condition. So you would have been born with the pre-deposition for it. Therefore the environment can’t have ‘given’ you Coeliac Disease.
      However, there are many factors as to when the genes will activate and in a sense ‘trigger’ the disease. Some of these factors include sickness, stress, pregnancy, one of the most recent research break-throughs shown last week on Nine news is about bacteria and it’s ability to trigger Coeliac Disease. There of course are others that haven’t been identified. You can visit Coeliac.org.au for more information from the leading experts.
      Thanks for reading. 🙂

    1. Hi Tina;
      I have heard a few people who used to work in bakeries get very sick if they forget to wash their hands or their clothes. Since the nasal passages are connected if you inhaled a lot of flour it could be possible to get sick.

  4. I simply want to say I am just newbie to Coeliac disease and I seriously enjoyed your blog site, it’s so helpful and friendly. More than likely I’m going to bookmark your site . Your articles are actually useful. Kudos for helping others like us.

  5. Hurrah! Finally I got a webpage from where I be capable of genuinely obtain helpful facts regarding my study and knowledge.

  6. Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to have a look.
    I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and fantastic design and style.

  7. This is really informative. Could you please write more about cross contamination? I’m relatively new and don’t understand it fully yet.

  8. Oh wow! I had never though about it that way before. Please keep us informed with information like this to keep us safe. I now realize that when I visit my grandmother who does a lot of baking that the reason I am sick is because of the flour in the air.
    I’ll have to try and avoid it on her baking days.
    Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.