Separate foods vs good hygiene

I’m seeing contamination everywhere now. It’s my biggest headache at this early stage of getting the hang of what’s involved in looking after a coeliac, and I’ve realised that with a capable but not always switched on 7 year old in the house I can’t rely on people observing good anti-contamination hygiene. Separate foods is the only answer.

Just now my 7yr old put peanut butter on his (gluten containing) toast. Just too late I saw him wipe the excess PB onto the side of the tub, in an instant rendering that tub useless for Tamsin. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know, and I can’t expect him to exercise the level of vigilance and awareness that the adults will have to. In fairness, as that tub was 75% used already, it would have been untrustworthy. The only solution is to buy fresh tomorrow and put some in separate jars for Tamsin.

Marking the separate foods

I’ve invented the effective but ugly system of putting rubber bands round Tamsin’s foods. Depending on whether it keeps the lid on or goes round a jar, it can prevent someone casually using it because they can’t get the lid off without removing the band, or it acts as a visual or tactile reminder. My 7yr old will be fine with that and will proudly announce to everyone that if it has a rubber band on it, it’s one of Tamsin’s separate foods!

This does make me realise though that many of the pots I have open will be unsuitable for Tamsin. Squeezy bottles of eg ketchup (some are coeliac safe, some aren’t – that’s a label-reading job) or salad cream are fine, but anything you delve into with a spoon is no good for her if it’s already open.