A Contaminated Kitchen

The other day, I was in the kitchen at my workplace, talking to a coworker, when I received a bit of a shock.

While we conversed, my acquaintance sliced cheese with one of the knives available for common use. Then, when she had finished, I watched in horror as she quickly ran the knife under some water and wiped it off with a paper towel, stowing it in the drying rack for clean dishes. No soap had been used, and there were still noticeable streaks of dairy residue on the knife when she put it away, ostensibly cleaned and ready for someone else's use. And as a result, both the knife and utensil-holder on the drying rack were contaminated with dairy.

Earlier that morning, I had gone into the kitchen to get some tea, and saw that another coworker had toasted some bread and had it laying on the counter -- no plate or napkin, just sitting on the counter; another kitchen surface left dirty, crumbs scattered about.

The combined experience served as a huge reminder that common utensils, appliances like toasters and microwaves, cooking surfaces, etc. in places out of your control, like workplace kitchens or hotels that supply such things, aren't safe for celiacs and those with food sensitivities. You can't trust that others will share your standards of cleanliness, or even if they seem to understand your food limitations, grasp the concept of cross-contamination.

In short, a toaster used to toast regular wheat bread is contaminated and shouldn't be used by people with gluten sensitivities. Even if you toast gluten-free bread in the same toaster, it may go in gluten-free, but it will come out contaminated. Likewise, a sponge used to clean a dirty dish will have trace bits of the food on it afterwards, and unless the food was gluten-free, the sponge is contaminated. It shouldn't be further employed to wash a celiac's dishes, otherwise the dishes could be contaminated, and the person could get sick. Moreover, a can-opener used to open a can of cream-based soup and then stored without washing could have food particles on it that may transfer to the contents of the next can it's used to open. Not good news if you're casein-free like me.

All this goes to say that you can't be too careful. Too many of us on restricted diets due to food issues already have spent too many years with compromised health to jeopardize it by being careless, particularly when cross-contamination from sources like this is so easily avoided.

I already keep some dishes, mugs, utensils at work. I would never use the toaster there, or leave my food unguarded or sitting on common surfaces. Most of the time, I use paper towels as sponges to clean my dishes (unless the sponge is brand-new). But this experience has convinced me that I can be more careful, too. Note to self: Never use the common workplace utensils again, without first washing them thoroughly. That, or bring my own.

I guess it's time to go buy another can-opener.