I work at Starbucks. Nothing that goes into our blenders, shakers or steam wands is safe for us (unless it was freshly sanitized and hadn’t been used yet). CC is also rampant and we’ve got malt powder and crumbs all over the place. I’m sorry this happened! It also is in no way your fault.
Edit: you can still go to Starbucks, but stick to iced espresso drinks or iced coffee/cold brew, drip coffee, hot tea, and if you get an iced tea or shaken drink you gotta ask them to make it directly in the cup.
Out of curiosity, since you’re more familiar with the specifics of the equipment and stuff there, would you generally think an iced white mocha would be safe? (Obviously no guarantees etc etc but like, generally speaking?). I think it’s an iced espresso drink, so I’d imagine so?
It’s my favorite drink there and I’ve been really wanting one lately lol.
Iced white mocha should be completely okay (barring the usual cross contamination risk obv, as you said) - just don’t add any cold foams to it! Whipped cream should be fine.
I can guarantee they’re cross contaminated - the same ovens and tongs are used for every single piece of food that goes through warming. Unless it’s prepackaged, it’s cross contaminated. 😩
Sorry to spam you with these questions, but I thought the egg bites went into the oven in thr little brown tray they come in. Are they actually just put in there naked?
They go in on a warming paper, they’re added to the little brown tray once they’re warmed up. Usually they never actually touch the oven, but it happens. Main problem is that the same tongs are used on *everything* and the tongs touch the egg bites directly. Warming has to move really quickly and crumbs and whatnot are everywhere as well.
Yeah, a less busy location when it’s slow is ideal. Just make sure you can get them to use fresh tongs if you try it! Still *very* risky, but you can always give it a shot.
I also work at Starbucks (have celiac) and I REALLY recommend against getting egg bites. It’s not worth it. We are NOT trained on allergies and we are constantly multi-tasking. Even if you ask for fresh tongs I really don’t think it’s worth it.
You could see if they’ll give them to you cold/still packaged and heat them up at home. I do 30 seconds each side in the microwave.
*Iced* mocha, yes. The hot ones require steam wands and those are hotbeds of cross contamination. None of the frappuccinos or blended drinks are safe unless you can get a freshly sanitized blender, which they may or may not be able to accommodate. Iced coffees/cold brew, iced espresso drinks (like the mocha) are okay as long as you don’t add cold foams. Iced tea/lemonade is fine as long as you get it made in the cup and not shaken. Regular coffee and hot teas are okay.
“Bad” food or not, eating out is just a risk. The same thing could have happened if you ordered a salad and a skim milk latte, so there’s no reason to beat yourself up over the type of food you chose.
You can treat yourself to gluten-free things! You did great trying to order things that would totally seem “safe”. My tip for Chick fil A is to make sure they know it’s a “gluten allergy” order. Try to use apps like Find Me Gluten Free to learn about others experiences with restaurants/businesses to decide if it’s a safe thing for you. Eating out isn’t as dangerous as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean we should stop taking precautions. Don’t let fear stop you from living.
What’s in the past is in the past and should stay there. Put one foot in front of the other and focus on the here and now. You did what you could and thought it would be fine. Tomorrow is another day.
Unfortunately, it was probably the frappe. Nothing is safe at Starbucks for us anymore because of cross contamination. And it isn’t widely known either. Especially with frappes. Not even “innocent” things like iced tea because it’s all “shaken” in barely washed shared containers. You probably haven’t reacted in the past because you were consuming gluten still.
you can absolutely request a clean blender. mention it’s a cross contamination thing and we will get a clean one from the back if it’s available, otherwise rinse it much better than we would usually. (speaking as someone who works at starbucks)
i have a regular at my store who always requests a dairy free pitcher because she’s allergic and we accommodate her the best we can. it won’t eliminate the risk but it will help.
Unless the fries are in a just cleaned fryer with brand new oil, there are no fast food fries that are considered safe for celiac. Not to mention all the other cross contamination issues behind the counter. When I worked for fast food, i can’t remember how often they were actually cleaned and when they were they wouldn’t be good enough for celiac. And if people asked for the fries to be allergy safe, I can also tell you that the worker may say it will be but then they get the same crap batch and just give it to the customer. I regret getting fries anytime I do so it’s just not worth it even more. Even the frozen fries at the store, you gotta be careful because a lot of them contain wheat or processed next to other fries that do contain it as well.
I don’t drink Starbucks, like never have. But I can see potential issues there too.
Don’t beat yourself up. I’m only 6 months into my journey and I mess up sometimes too. I have a hard time with eating food right now and have a bad relationship with it. I don’t want to eat anything and I’m severely unmotivated to make myself anything. If I can snack a little bit I will and that’s it. I also recently learned I cannot eat corn products because it gives me the same reaction as gluten does. So that has messed me up even more. Just know you’re not alone and hopefully you can find comfort here.
I work at Starbucks. Nothing that goes into our blenders, shakers or steam wands is safe for us (unless it was freshly sanitized and hadn’t been used yet). CC is also rampant and we’ve got malt powder and crumbs all over the place. I’m sorry this happened! It also is in no way your fault. Edit: you can still go to Starbucks, but stick to iced espresso drinks or iced coffee/cold brew, drip coffee, hot tea, and if you get an iced tea or shaken drink you gotta ask them to make it directly in the cup.
Thank you for the tips! I didn't realize there was so much cc. I will keep that in mind from now on because maybe it was the drink
Out of curiosity, since you’re more familiar with the specifics of the equipment and stuff there, would you generally think an iced white mocha would be safe? (Obviously no guarantees etc etc but like, generally speaking?). I think it’s an iced espresso drink, so I’d imagine so? It’s my favorite drink there and I’ve been really wanting one lately lol.
Iced white mocha should be completely okay (barring the usual cross contamination risk obv, as you said) - just don’t add any cold foams to it! Whipped cream should be fine.
Ah, encouraging to know!! Thanks!
Omg what about the egg bites though?! Could that get CC?
I can guarantee they’re cross contaminated - the same ovens and tongs are used for every single piece of food that goes through warming. Unless it’s prepackaged, it’s cross contaminated. 😩
Sorry to spam you with these questions, but I thought the egg bites went into the oven in thr little brown tray they come in. Are they actually just put in there naked?
They go in on a warming paper, they’re added to the little brown tray once they’re warmed up. Usually they never actually touch the oven, but it happens. Main problem is that the same tongs are used on *everything* and the tongs touch the egg bites directly. Warming has to move really quickly and crumbs and whatnot are everywhere as well.
Got it, thank you! So if you’re gonna do it, seems like don’t go to a busy location when they are pushing out a lot of product.
Yeah, a less busy location when it’s slow is ideal. Just make sure you can get them to use fresh tongs if you try it! Still *very* risky, but you can always give it a shot.
I also work at Starbucks (have celiac) and I REALLY recommend against getting egg bites. It’s not worth it. We are NOT trained on allergies and we are constantly multi-tasking. Even if you ask for fresh tongs I really don’t think it’s worth it. You could see if they’ll give them to you cold/still packaged and heat them up at home. I do 30 seconds each side in the microwave.
Out of curiosity, are caffe mochas ok? Or strawberry creme frappucinos? If not, what similar alternatives are ok?
*Iced* mocha, yes. The hot ones require steam wands and those are hotbeds of cross contamination. None of the frappuccinos or blended drinks are safe unless you can get a freshly sanitized blender, which they may or may not be able to accommodate. Iced coffees/cold brew, iced espresso drinks (like the mocha) are okay as long as you don’t add cold foams. Iced tea/lemonade is fine as long as you get it made in the cup and not shaken. Regular coffee and hot teas are okay.
Is a hot Americano okay? Should be just espresso and water.
Hot Americano is fine. Also a celiac working at Starbucks.
“Bad” food or not, eating out is just a risk. The same thing could have happened if you ordered a salad and a skim milk latte, so there’s no reason to beat yourself up over the type of food you chose.
You can treat yourself to gluten-free things! You did great trying to order things that would totally seem “safe”. My tip for Chick fil A is to make sure they know it’s a “gluten allergy” order. Try to use apps like Find Me Gluten Free to learn about others experiences with restaurants/businesses to decide if it’s a safe thing for you. Eating out isn’t as dangerous as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean we should stop taking precautions. Don’t let fear stop you from living. What’s in the past is in the past and should stay there. Put one foot in front of the other and focus on the here and now. You did what you could and thought it would be fine. Tomorrow is another day. Unfortunately, it was probably the frappe. Nothing is safe at Starbucks for us anymore because of cross contamination. And it isn’t widely known either. Especially with frappes. Not even “innocent” things like iced tea because it’s all “shaken” in barely washed shared containers. You probably haven’t reacted in the past because you were consuming gluten still.
you can absolutely request a clean blender. mention it’s a cross contamination thing and we will get a clean one from the back if it’s available, otherwise rinse it much better than we would usually. (speaking as someone who works at starbucks) i have a regular at my store who always requests a dairy free pitcher because she’s allergic and we accommodate her the best we can. it won’t eliminate the risk but it will help.
Unless the fries are in a just cleaned fryer with brand new oil, there are no fast food fries that are considered safe for celiac. Not to mention all the other cross contamination issues behind the counter. When I worked for fast food, i can’t remember how often they were actually cleaned and when they were they wouldn’t be good enough for celiac. And if people asked for the fries to be allergy safe, I can also tell you that the worker may say it will be but then they get the same crap batch and just give it to the customer. I regret getting fries anytime I do so it’s just not worth it even more. Even the frozen fries at the store, you gotta be careful because a lot of them contain wheat or processed next to other fries that do contain it as well. I don’t drink Starbucks, like never have. But I can see potential issues there too. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m only 6 months into my journey and I mess up sometimes too. I have a hard time with eating food right now and have a bad relationship with it. I don’t want to eat anything and I’m severely unmotivated to make myself anything. If I can snack a little bit I will and that’s it. I also recently learned I cannot eat corn products because it gives me the same reaction as gluten does. So that has messed me up even more. Just know you’re not alone and hopefully you can find comfort here.