When diagnosed with allergy or celiac disease, change not only your diet but also your lifestyle, starting to pay attention to everyday gestures which may contaminate your food. Such new attitude should involve also your colleagues, friends and relatives. Here is some advice to prevent contamination:
- Always wash your hands when touching food, plates and cutlery
- Wash or change worktables and chopping boards, especially if there are breadcrumbs. Avoid using wooden tools, as this material tends to retain impurities
- Use a piece of cutlery to take food from jars and containers, then a different one to spread or move the food you are about to have
- Arrange the space in your kitchen in order to set up dedicated areas for specific products, utensils and crockery. When you are at your friends or relatives’ home, make sure the environment is clean
- When shopping for food, read the products’ labels carefully: allergen ingredients are always printed in bold, anticipated by phrases like “it may contain…” or “made in a factory that produces…”. Look for the wording “gluten-free” especially used for celiacs. As for counter products, it’s advisable to ask the staff for the ingredients book
Valentina Tedesco
