Keep the 4th of July Celiac Safe with These Tips

You can never be too safe when it comes to your health. If you have celiac disease, you have to take extra precautions and always have your guard up during holidays that involve cook outs and lots of gluten. You don’t want to have to miss out on your family or friends’ celebrations, but you have to stay safe. We’ve come up with some tips for avoiding cross-contamination in situations like this.

Make Your Food at Home in Advance

The absolute safest option for eating at a cookout is packing your own food that you made at home in your gluten-free kitchen.

If you plan in advance, you can make yourself gluten-free versions of everything they’re serving that you might want and pack it in your own container, keeping yourself safe from the cross-contamination that happens so easily in buffet or family-style situations.

Watch Food Prep

If you’re planning on eating at the cookout, either because of precautions being taken or no bread being served, be sure to discuss the necessary precautions with whoever’s cooking the food. There are so many chances for cross-contamination to occur in the cooking process when done in a shared kitchen. Just one little slip – forgetting to put down foil first, using the same tongs, a bowl that wasn’t fully cleaned – and you could get sick, bringing the party to a crashing halt for you.

Avoid the Buffet

Buffet- or family-style dining is someone with celiac’s greatest enemy. Due to the very nature of the relaxed, casual party vibe, no food on the buffet can be trusted. Most people that don’t live closely with celiac disease (either have it themselves or live with it) don’t often think about putting a knife back in a jar of peanut butter after rubbing it on their bread, or what the serving spoon or their hands might have touched before they placed them in the dish.

Buffets are a breeding ground for cross-contamination and danger is everywhere for someone with celiac disease. The best way to stay safe in this scenario is to either go through very first and don’t go back for seconds, or just don’t eat any of it all. After all, if it’s a potluck, you have no way of knowing the safety of the ingredients in the dish anyway.

Plan Ahead

It’s difficult to enjoy a BBQ or cookout where you have opted completely out of eating; the entire point of the party is to eat, so it’s hard to not feel left out in that scenario. Pre-empt this issue by bringing your own food from home. It’s a great way to keep yourself safe from getting sick, while avoiding that all-too-familiar feeling of missing out on the fun. Your health is important and getting sick is not an option, so plan ahead and bring safe food from home. Above all, you want to make sure you have a fun time with your loved ones, celebrating the holiday; you should be able to relax and have fun without worry.

It’s common for those with celiac disease to feel anxious about attending social gatherings involving a meal. Oftentimes, they result in either the person with celiac disease missing the gathering or feeling left out because they can’t take part in the fun. There’s no reason to live your life afraid or missing out on fun parties with those you love. With a little advanced planning, you can enjoy everything your friends enjoy without getting sick, allowing you to be part of the party without the worry or fear.