For example, hands that have been putting together a pizza containing something containing wheat or gluten on it probably don’t get washed before moving on to creating the “gluten free” pizza, so there may be cross-contamination.

And baking those pizzas, are they baked in a separate oven? Are they baked on pizza dishes that were cleaned to make sure no flour from a previous pizza crust still exists to contaminate the gluten free base? Was the pizza cutter used washed before cutting the gluten free pizza?

Where I live there is a popular pizza place in town. They offer gluten free pizza bases, however they bake their pizzas in wood fired ovens. So how easy is it to avoid contamination when baking? I’m guessing impossible.

Even if they bake the gluten free pizzas in a separate oven there is still the problem of flour being in the kitchen, on hands or clothes, contamination of pizza toppings, utensils not being cleaned before cutting pizza etc etc.

I don’t want to sound paranoid, but it’s not just a few sneezes or a slightly iffy tummy if I eat wheat, it’s a full blown “drop you to your knees” few hours of misery and pain, and if it’s in a restaurant then don’t forget the humiliation too.

So I’d love to eat out occasionally, I miss the gluten free restaurant that mysteriously closed last year in Calgary, there’s nothing more I’d like than to eat out like a normal person sometimes.

However restaurants need to do more to make it clear to people like me just how safe their gluten free offerings are. They need to clearly state that hands will be washed, clean utensils will be used, non-contaminated toppings will be available, a separate oven is dedicated. Then I’d gladly spend my money in their establishments... so come on all you restaurants, instead of blithely jumping on the next food bandwagon to more $’s how about thinking it through a little too, put my mind at rest and I'll happily spend my hard earned $'s with you.

Until that time I guess my only pizza treat will be "make it yourself pizza" (pizza crust recipe)