Do Celiacs Need to Worry About Eating Fresh Produce?

Breaking down the latest gluten controversy

Last week, a small farm in Colorado shared on social media that it was dusting its vegetable plants with flour to help kill grasshoppers and other pests. The farm was using flour, it said, as a natural alternative to chemicals.

Naturally, this caused panic in the celiac community, with a bunch of fearmongering (and inaccurate) posts and comments circulating online.

If you saw any of this, you may have wondered: Do you really have yet another thing to worry about when it comes to finding celiac-safe gluten-free food?

Below, I’m breaking down the issue to help ease your concerns.

Should you be worried about flour on your vegetables?

First things first: It’s important to understand that flour can’t be absorbed by vegetable plants. That said, there’s still a potential risk for cross-contact from any flour remaining on the surface of the produce, notes the National Celiac Association (NCA) in a statement.

However, this doesn’t mean you need to panic and start tossing all of the produce in your crisper drawer. Why not? Erin Kenny, RD, founder of The Celiac Space, sets the record straight in an excellent Instagram reel:

the_celiac_space

A post shared by @the_celiac_space

As Kenny points out in her Instagram reel:

• This isn’t a common practice, especially at big, industrial farms, where most grocery stores source their produce. These farms typically use conventional methods for keeping away pests—not flour. The chances you’d purchase produce dusted with flour are very, very low.

• Even if you’re buying produce from a small local farm that uses flour to control pests, remember: the flour isn’t getting into your food. While it might still be on the surface of the vegetable plant when you buy it, all you have to do is wash your produce well before using it (which you should be doing anyway, of course!).

“To our knowledge, this is not a common practice for food farmers, but for the safety of our community, we do recommend washing produce as a general best practice,” notes the NCA in its statement.

The bigger issue here really has to do with transparency. Allegedly, the farm didn’t originally disclose the potential cross-contact risk to customers, according to the NCA’s statement. (The farm did eventually put out a disclaimer.)

“In addition to the cross-contact risks for celiac disease, we can’t condone this practice of intentionally contaminating foods intended for public consumption with a top allergen without communicating that risk,” says the NCA in its statement.

What’s the best way to wash fresh produce?

Let’s say you do buy vegetables that have been dusted with flour. What would be the best way to remove that flour from the surface of your produce so you could safely consume it as a celiac?

In her Instagram post, Kenny explains that water would be enough to get rid of any flour. Kenny adds that soap isn’t necessary because gluten isn’t alive and therefore doesn’t need to be killed. She says in a comment on her Instagram post that flour isn’t a super-sticky substance, so it wouldn’t need anything extra (like soap) to wash it off.

Regardless of where you get your produce, washing your fresh fruits and veggies is always a good idea. Here’s what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally recommends:

• Wash your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling fresh produce.

• Cut away any damaged or bruised areas on the produce before cleaning and eating.

• Rinse produce before you peel it so that dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred from your knife onto the part of the fruit or veggie you’re going to eat.

• Gently rub your produce under plain running water. “There’s no need to use soap or a produce wash,” notes the FDA.

• Use a clean vegetable brush to scrub melons, cucumbers, and other firm produce.

• Dry everything with a clean paper towel or cloth to help reduce any bacteria that might still linger.

• Remove the outer leaves of lettuce or cabbage after washing.

The bottom line

Farms should absolutely disclose if they’re using flour in this way so customers can assess their comfort level and make an informed purchasing decision. While the risk is pretty minimal—for the reasons I’ve outlined above—you should do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable as a celiac.

At the end of the day, though, chances are really low that you’ll ever encounter vegetables dusted with flour in the first place (it’s just not a common practice). Even if you do, flour can’t be absorbed by vegetable plants—and washing your produce thoroughly with water should be enough to remove it from the surface.

Did you see this story making the rounds on social media? Let me know your thoughts on this topic in the comments!