Celiac Disease: Gluten-Free Dining Out

Dining out, for a person with celiac disease (CD), can be a bit like navigating through a minefield. Seemingly harmless substances, commonly found in food, cause an autoimmune reaction in persons with CD. The result is damage to the small intestine. The culprit is gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. In order to enjoy a satisfying meal that does no harm, a person with CD must have a good understanding of gluten-free (GF) food, an ability to read labels, and an ability to communicate well with restaurant staff.

Once seated at a table, I briefly explain CD to the server and hand him/her a small plastic card, designed by the Gluten Intolerance Group, that spells out what I must avoid: flours, thickeners, coating mixes, sauces, some soy sauces, some marinades, malt, malt flavoring, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, modified food starch, pasta, croutons, stuffing, some herbal teas, some broths, self-basting poultry, and imitations of bacon and seafood. Some servers understand CD and know exactly how to proceed. Others have never heard of this condition, so I ask them to consult with the chef or manager.

Let's say I want to order a salad, grilled salmon, a baked potato, and steamed broccoli. First of all, I consider the salmon. Salmon is gluten-free, but if flash frozen it can be coated with an invisible glaze that contains food starch. My first question: Is the salmon fresh or frozen?

From there I move to preparation methods. The fish cannot come into contact with gluten containing foods, or be prepared on surfaces or cookware contaminated by gluten. I ask for pure butter or assurance that the margarine being used is GF. Grill paste, used to keep food from sticking to the grill, often contains gluten. Spice packets, used to season fish, sometimes contain food starch. For simplicity's sake, I generally request fresh salmon, 100% butter with a bit of garlic, a clean grill, and no grill paste. It's a lot of work for a simple piece of fish, and the rest of the meal has yet to be addressed.