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Comment by adambrenecki | Hacker News Reader

As someone who has Coeliac disease: shhhhhhh! /s

When I was first diagnosed, you couldn't buy groceries or eat out _anywhere_. Now, pretty much every restaurant has gluten free options marked on their menu; every supermarket has a wide range of bread, flour, cake mixes, biscuits, and so on; and manufacturers of packaged food are swapping out incidental gluten-free ingredients like wheat starch for gluten-free alternatives. You can bet that's because of people that think gluten-free food is "good for you", rather than the much smaller group of Coeliacs ourselves.

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Why do you think it's a good thing for people with celiac disease that pretty much every restaurant has gluten free options on their menu?

Most restaurants advertising gluten-free items don't have dedicated cookware, utensils, cutting surfaces, grill areas, etc., which greatly raises the risk of cross-contamination.

And a significant percentage of gluten-free products in supermarkets are made in shared facilities that process wheat - why count that as helpful for celiac sufferers?

EDIT: I'd seriously love to be able to psychologically go into the average restaurant or fast food place and buy their gluten-free food without getting sick, so I welcome evidence as to why I'm wrong.

Shouldn't there be some data out there by now on how often such contamination incidents occur?

Most restaurants take the approach that Applebee's takes, which is to disclaim responsibility. Why should someone with celiac disease risk it when milligrams over the course of a day can ruin one's life for potentially weeks?

"Please be aware that during normal kitchen operations involving shared cooking and preparation areas, including common fryer oil, the possibility exists for food items to come in contact with other food products. Due to these circumstances, we are unable to guarantee that any menu item can be completely free of allergens." https://www.applebees.com/Allergen-Info

I hate those messages with a passion. They really reflect poorly on myself and the chefs under my command. As if i would trust anyone in my brigade who didnt keep my standards, and as if i myself, was unable to control my stations.

Head Chef here: for a celiac I'll use fresh equipment for their meal. My cutting boards are bleached and sanitised every night, my knives are constantly being cleaned and we certainly don't reuse dirty pans.

Where is this at, if you care to share? And do you know if your menu states anything about this? Most restaurants I look into (and won't eat at as a result) say stuff like:

"Gluten Free – Did you know that Chef Heather knows each and every ingredient that goes into her dishes? If you require a gluten free dish, please tell your server, or ask the Chef about it. Gluten Free is Not available for every dish." http://plumtreebistro.net/bistro-menu/

But when I email the restaurant, such as Plum Bistro, I get replies such as, "Hi there we are not a gluten free restaurant. We simply offer gluten-free options it's not advisable to dine with us if you have celiac disease because cross-contamination may occur."

Or another restaurant, after enquiring about their gluten-free options: "Thanks for your inquiry. We don't have specific cross contamination protocols."

I find these, or restaurants that have fine print about shared facilities and not assuming risk of cross-contamination, to be the norm in Seattle.

There is a difference between what the chef will do for you after a one-on-one discussion vs. what their marketing people will claim in written documentation that will come back to bite them in court if you get sick and sue them. We live in a litigious society, and it impacts our communications.

But they are right -- if you are Celiac, and it is so serious that a shared utensil is dangerous to you... their CYA statements are probably correct that it is not advisable to eat there. That doesn't mean you cannot do it... but it is your decision whether to go against that advice, and take that risk upon yourself... not their decision to give you a green light and put that risk on their kitchen staff.

I said it above but i want to say it again - in a well run kitchen, there should be no shared utensils. Even common kitchen tongs should not be shared between pan's, and should be cleaned between each meal.

In my opinion (not so humble haha), if you can't even do that, you don't belong in a proper restaurant.

Sadly, a lot of hacks exist in the world of food. It's refreshing that you're far from being one of them, and definitely it pays to eat at a restaurant that has pride in what it does. I think more broadly, you just have to choose wisely! I'd rather eat your food once a month, than a chain's once a week.

I do agree with you, the number of chefs i have interviewed who take 'short-cuts' with safety, hygiene and quality is... saddening.

The ones who weren't trained at least, you can help. The ones who have no pride in what they do, the hacks, should (as you said) not be in the world of food. There are a lot of people like you though, and one good thing that popular culture has done is to recognize that good food takes time and care. There might be a lot of people preparing and eating crap, but there's more good, respectable food than ever.

For me, having to have a one on one discussion with the chef (not my comfort zone) about whether they can make celiac-safe food isn't the same thing as almost every restaurant having gluten-free items on the menu. BTW, plenty of restaurants seem to list fried foods that are gluten-free but also mention that they share the fryer with items containing gluten. That's not legalese, that's certain contamination.

A good chef will put a wok with fresh oil on and fry the gluten free in that(we can use that oil in our normal fryer top up).

I'm in Japan, might be a bit far for you ;)

My current menu doesn't actually have gluten free items on it (i ask that the customers tell me, and ill do something for them on a one on one basis) - the reason being i just took over this restaurant(so its not my menu for another 2 months when we change it).

I have seen what you describe a lot - its usually by restaurants where the head chef isn't in charge. I personally go over everything about new menus - every single line of text is checked by me - as it reflects on my reputation.

As for cross-contamination, frankly anyone who says they dont have protocols in place is full of shit - we have it for EVERYTHING. In Australia we even legally have to have different coloured cutting boards for different produce types.

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