Coeliac friend

[SophiaG]

1 hour ago, Tinydance said:

I know my friend looks up a website of strictly gluten free restaurants in our city. But I'm not actually sure if there's an app. We live in a big city of about six million people. Usually most restaurants, especially in the city and inner suburbs, will have a couple or a few "gluten free" options. But my friend C says that if they cook the gluten food on the same equipment as the gluten free food, the food can still get contaminated with gluten.

From the way she's described it, if she eats gluten she feels very sick. Headaches, nausea, fatigue. Just feeling very off. So what I'm actually not sure about is if it's more like a paranoia that the food "might" have a small trace of gluten in it or the tiny trace of gluten actually dies make her really sick. I mean, I imagine even with normal food, you'd wash the fry pan, bench top, stove top in the restaurant after cooking each food. Like, you wouldn't cook a dish and not clean it and just cook a completely different dish over the top of it. So to be honest I'm actually a bit confused how the gluten "gets in". That's why I wasn't sure if it's more paranoia. But I actually have no idea about this because I'm not allergic to gluten myself and I've never worked in hospitality at all.

I think cross contamination is possible where the ingredients are stored/prepared like washed, cut, etc. but I have no idea if small amounts of gluten is that problematic either. I suppose for certain food allergies it can be serious so a lot of food packages come with warning that certain allergen foods are processed in the same facility.

58 minutes ago, Tinydance said:

So R said we will all arrive like 45 minutes earlier and we'll go to a fish and chips place a few doors down. The fish and chips place has strictly gluten free. So R said C will eat there and we will just sit there and then we'll go to the Mediterranean place and C will just sit there.

This does sound stupid. Personally I'd probably skip the fish and chip place and just meet them at the Mediterranean place. Perhaps I'm not as great a friend as you gals 😅 But if I want to hang out with C one on one then I'm willing to accommodate her and go to a strictly gluten free place.

I would think this type of dynamic can eventually cause the friends group to drift apart where those close friends of C continue to make arrangements with and for her and others start your own activities.

[tattoobunnie]

I am allergic to many pollinate fruits.  And, they cannot cross contaminate my food.  It's my responsibility to tell the wait staff this when they are taking my order.  To put that on all the other diners is ridiculous.

Honestly, you don't need to invite H all the time.  If they ask, just let them know the place isn't 100% gluten free, so you figure C won't care to go.  The world doesn't revolve around one person.

It's like saying hey, let's never go skiing, running a marathon, or pole dancing because we have one friend in a wheelchair.

[Morello]

You could just say you will meet the group at the Mediterranean restaurant, as you’re busy with other affairs?