When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease almost 11 years ago, not only did I avoid eating gluten, I avoided the smell of it. When I walked past the baker in the grocery store, I got a headache. I also got a headache from the smell of the bread that my family used.
I don’t have a scientific explanation for that reaction, but I believe it was an allergic reaction. After I was gluten free for a number of months, those headaches stopped. I still tend to hold my breath a bit when I have to walk down the bread isle in the store. Do you do that?
Despite my reaction, the smell of wheat does not mean there is actually gluten in the air. Gluten does get in the air, though, when people bake. White flour is light enough that is does “go flying” and the small particles hang in the air.
Can flour (and therefore gluten) in the air cause a gluten reaction? I think yes. Here’s why.
For those with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, gluten causes a reaction in the digestive tract. That means that breathing gluten into your lungs shouldn’t cause a reaction. The problem is that when you breath it in through your mouth and nose, those particles of flour can become trapped in your saliva and mucus and then be swallowed. At that point it enters your digestive system.
That is one reason that I removed all wheat flour from my kitchen and have not baked with it since I went gluten free. In their bulletin, Producing Gluten-Free Products in a Non-Dedicated Kitchen, the Gluten Intolerance Group says that flour can hang in the air up to 24 hours. That’s a long time.
Not long ago my gluten-free son went to a friend’s house. That friend’s mom does a lot of baking. That particular day she had really done a lot of baking. My son didn’t eat anything while he was there. Later that evening and the next morning he had diarrhea, one of his typical reactions. We went over everything he had eaten, and nothing seemed to be questionable. It is likely he was reacting to gluten that got into his digestive tract from the flour that was in the air at his friend’s house.
Another reason that I don’t bake with wheat flour, and don’t recommend that anyone does if there is a gluten-free person in the house (whether it is the baker or not) is that flour in the air eventually settles on surfaces. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to do, but I think it would be very difficult to make sure that flour is always cleaned up from appliances, work surfaces, eating surfaces, etc.
Other Ways Gluten Might Be in the Air
There is no doubt about it when you use aerosol sprays that the substance gets in the air as well as where it was intended to go. I really don’t like aerosols, but for some reason I got hooked on a particular aerosol hair spray that I have used for months. Just the other day I thought to read the ingredients and found that it contains wheat flour lipids. Trust me, I am kicking myself for not checking that sooner.
Consider checking the ingredients on any aerosols or other types of sprays you have.
What do you think? Have you removed all gluten-containing flour (not necessarily products) from your house?
So then I must ask…how gluten-free can pizza be from a pizzeria where flour dust is in the air all day long?
I would not risk it.
I try to not even go in the bread isle. My local grocery store recently rearranged their store and all of a sudden I was in the bread isle, Yikes, I tried to hold my breath and navagate the people. I don’t know if I have celiac because I stopped eating gluten 3 years ago due to stomach pain and more, you all know. Anyway they can’t test apparently if you aren’t eating it. I am also extremely sensitive to any amount of MSG, just because it says no msg does not mean there is none, just not the percentage that makes them disclose it as msg. It is in many other names. I know that msg is something that celiacs are also supposed to try to avoid. Good luck to us. Seems between the two I can hardly eat anything anywhere but my own home without ending up sick. Anyone have any good tips besides just bringing my own food and snacks which I do. I always carry something in my purse for those times when there is nothing I can eat mostly for myself so I don’t feel left out but others feel better too if you are eating with them. It’s such a pain that food has become such an enemy to me.
I had a severe reaction recently when my husband I were driving around a neighborhood that housed a large factory that produced pizza dough. At first it was a lightheaded feeling (not a huge deal), but then it progressed into asthma and stomach cramps, and an overall feeling of panic. My gluten intolerance used to produce a strange feeling in my guts that I used to mistake for panic, now I know it was just a reaction to gluten. I’ve been gluten free for 5 years – have a dedicated kitchen – and still cannot breathe it. I won’t even go into a pizza shop or near noodles boiling! I never have that panic feeling unless I’ve been exposed to gluten.
Wow! Just from driving around the neighborhood! Thanks for sharing your experience. Some one else might experience that panic feeling too.
It all can be very confounding. For instance, in speaking with a nutritionist, the subject of toothpaste came up. Although she could think of only one that may contain gluten, she said that in order to cause any intestinal damage, one would have to eat 6-7 tubes of the paste. Same with shampoos that may enter your mouth and thereby, the intestinal tract.
I realize flour is highly concentrated, so that makes a big difference in how someone extremely sensitive would react. My point is, everyones body will react differently and has varying extremes to how they react to gluten. I can eat GF pizza from a place that makes regular pizza with no reaction (that I’m aware of). However, it stands to reason that it truly can’t be gluten free with flour particles floating around and settling all day. Question is, at what PPM are the particles that make it onto or in the gluten free pizza?
If you’re sensitive, don’t do it.
I think many people react to far less than what “they” say it takes to make you sick. Besides, I would rather use gluten free products, even if something does only contain a tiny amount. I wish there was more research done on how much gluten it takes to cause intestinal damage. I think many people who rely on their symptoms (and don’t have them) may be doing their bodies harm. Thanks for your input!
I’m fortunate to have access to the wholesaler who makes the pizza crust and can make it at home.
Before I went wheat free, I couldn’t figure out why I’d feel ok, then go work in the kitchen, making pizza crust, bread, etc. And get so weak I couldn’t stand up.
Once I went wheat free, I figured it out. My daughters do all the baking now, and I try to stay out of the kitchen while they are working. I’m gong to have to be more diligent about having them clean up after themselves, though.
I have not removed all gluten and/or wheat products form my kitchen. There are 6 of us, and I’m the only one with difficulties. So I just try to be really careful.
Having gluten products in the kitchen is one thing, but having wheat flour around is something else. It is so very hard to avoid contamination from it, but I’ve already stated that in my blog post. Maybe you could get your daughters interested in gluten free baking. It would be a challenge for them, and they might need it one day.
Thanks for this post. The comments were informative, too. My girls are 13 & 15 and let the flour fly when they bake. lol I’m going to have to figure something out. Thanks!
I do hold my breath in the bread aisle
We are a gluten-free kitchen as well. We just remodeled, so we even have new counter-tops, along with having changed out our cutting boards when we first changed our diet.
GF pizza from the pizza place doesn’t bother me- but it’s a small family place and they are very careful. Salads in restaurants DO often bother me, and I think there must be gluten contamination from croutons all around their salad station. A baked potato seems to be the safer option for me when dining out.
I have VERY strong reactions to the smells of things I have allergies to, overall. Both of my daughters take an antibiotic that I am allergic to, and I can’t get it on my skin or breathe the smell of it or I will get light-headed and sometimes hives. The smell of kiwi makes me ill as well- I think it is my body’s way of saying, “Stay far away!” before I even attempt to eat it.
I’m glad I’m not alone in holding my breath.
That’s very interesting about kiwi. We don’t eat it often because some of us find it bothers our mouths.
Thanks for all your input on this topic.
I found this out the hard way when my son was starting baby cereal. The dust in the air from it made me quite ill so we switched him to rice and soy cereal instead.
Not giving him wheat cereal was probably better for him too! Thanks for sharing.
I am sure that a lot of flour dust in the air can cause reactions. There’s a good amount of dust whenever I bake gluten-free goods, and, maybe, it’s just my imagination, but sometimes it even feels like I can taste the flour in my mouth after there has been a flour cloud… I am glad that there is rarely any gluten baking going on in our household, but, for example, I try to avoid breathing in the air that comes out of the “normal” cereal bags when I squeeze them to seal them.
My kids are big enough to close the cereal bags themselves, but that’s definitely something to consider if you are the one closing the bag. Thanks for your input.
Also – If you are Celiac or GF, beware of SWheat Scoop Cat litter – dust can get in air and on cats fur and somehow be ingested. Use “Worlds Best Cat Litter” Brand which is corn. And kiss your cats!
Great tip, Terri. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you for this post. People think I’m crazy because I won’t let gluten of any sort in the house and won’t bake with wheat flour for other people. But, I know those flour clouds find their way down our throats!
And yeah, I hold my breath in the bakery aisle too! LOL
You’re welcome, and you are not crazy! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who holds my breath.
I feel sick at my stomach in the bead isle now at the store. Also for those that don’t think that they get sick from air borne flour, remember that the Villi can flaten out without giving us symptoms.
Moe
Chickiepea & others in thinking about being sick from salads, think about those that handle hamburger buns and then make up salads, they don’t wash hands between. Also this is why I NEVER order a drink with ice in it, since gluten could be in the air and land in the ice machine undetected. Sometimes I think it’s not 1 time being glutened that makes us ill, it can be an accumulation of gluten through out the day, tiny bits here and there that add up.
Moe
You’re right. There are lots of opportunities for contamination when eating out. And I agree, small amounts of gluten can add up to cause bigger problems. Thanks for your input.
Excellent post, Linda! And there are many good points shared in the comments, too. I’ve actually read that flour can stay airborne for much longer, and I tend to believe that considering how I can see firsthand how dust particles can fly around my house.
When I first went gluten free (8 years ago), I continued doing some baking with gluten-full flour for a very short time. Even early in being gluten free–and therefore probably still having gluten in my system–I didn’t feel well after I baked with gluten. So I gave that flour away and started baking completely gf for all of us. I’m still surprised at families that continue using gluten-full flours for some baking in their homes even if they don’t consume it themselves. Even if one does not have outward symptoms, it’s simply not safe. Usually when you talk to these folks, many have health issues that they don’t tie to still getting gluten.
I hold my breath when I’m near bakeries (walking by the sourdough factory in San Francisco with the steam pouring out required an extra long breath … I was wishing for a mask at the time!) or even when we’re on the motorcycle and riding past wheat fields and either the wind is blowing or the wheat is being cultivated. I won’t eat at places like Panera Bread or Subway where there is bread being made.
I’m glad you figured out that your hairspray contained wheat. I think they usually do. I always feel like anything like that lands on my tongue and my hands, and if I later touch my hands to my mouth wiping off smudged lipstick or something … well, the chances of ingesting it are pretty high I think.
Finally, we get a lot of advice from others about having to consume “tons” of this or “tons” of that for the products to harm us, but if we truly listen to our bodies, we’ll figure out what’s safe for us. If we’re eating a lot of processed foods, with a “gluten-free” label or not, it’s hard to know where the source of our woes are. Heck, it’s even hard to recognize we’re having problems, because we may be constantly getting small amounts of gluten. But it we are largely eating whole foods (and making meals from them), then when we add in products and have an issue, we are more likely to recognize it.
Thanks, Linda! Stay safe, all. Off to share,
Shirley
Shirley, thanks for your input and for sharing the post!
We have a no-gluten-flour rule at our house. I’m the only one with gluten problems, but I’m also the main cook. So if my husband and daughter want to eat wheat bread and crackers, that’s fine. They might even indulge in a frozen pizza or something like that. But a gastroenterologist put the fear of flour into me early on, and I avoid it like the plague.
That’s how it is at our house too, except that now one of my kids is gluten free also.
Call me crazy but gluten in the air is exactly why I avoided visiting my family in KS during wheat harvest. The city my dad lives in is literally surrounded by thousands of acres of wheat!
Crystal, I would not call you crazy at all. I would stay away during wheat harvest too!
Thanks so much for this information. I recently went with my mother and sister to Cracker Barrel. Once seated, I asked the waitress if biscuit flour was flying in the kitchen and she said yes. I drank a glass of tea and thankfully had no reaction. Of course my sister wasn’t happy that I wouldn’t try the greens or some other gluten free item. My motto is, when in doubt go without.
Lee, I agree with you and won’t eat a Cracker Barrel. Thanks for your comment.
Glad I’m not the only one who gets affected by airborne gluten. It makes me nauseated.
Many people think they can get away with ingesting small amounts of gluten as long as they don’t feel symptoms like intestinal, rash on hands or whatever, but the villi are still being damaged. Over time, this nutritional loss will likely affect their health. My husband is celiac and also allergic to wheat, rye, barley, and oats via blood test. I have a celiac grandmother, food allergic relatives, and am likely sensitive myself. Because of this, I have not baked with wheat flour in 6 years. I couldn’t imagine putting a cloud of that in the kitchen anymore than putting up a hive by the window of someone who was allergic to bees. Maybe drastic? Well, I might have thought so until recently when my hubby’s company moved him to the security office at a brewing company. The smell was very strong. During the tour around the facility, he began to feel dizzy, nauseated, panicky. I assume it was the barley? Anyway, he had to leave the site immediately and his company had to station him to work at a different site. So, yes, small amounts of gluten your body is intolerant to can harm you over time and small amounts you might be allergic to can definitely cause problems, even affect where you can work! Best wishes to all!
Today I made gluten free pumpkin bread. I sprayed the pans with Pam and then on a hunch checked Pam’s ingredients. Sure enough…wheat lecithin. No more Pam for me. The other night I baked for my kids and breathed in some wheat flour by mistake and my face got all rashy. Coincidence? Maybe, but I will watch out for that in the future!
I have a can of Pam original and it does not contain wheat. It has soy lecithin. I think the Pam Baking contains wheat.
Yes, It is Pam baking spray. Too bad DH got a 3 pack from Sam’s Club! I think I’ll just oil by hand from now on like my mom used to!
I mostly do it the old fashioned way, but I keep some Pam on hand. Sometimes it just works better.
I forgot to add that step! Thanks for telling me. Yes, you sprinkle them on top before baking.