# It was gluten-free for 20 seconds

By Gregory Wilson · *Published 2026-06-10*

> A catered work lunch had safe gluten-free options — until a shared serving spoon undid them. A reminder that cross-contact happens fast, and vigilance is on you.

We had a team working lunch today, catered in. The caterers knew I have celiac
and did the right thing — several genuinely gluten-free options were laid out
alongside everything else. That part was great.

Then I looked at the line. The rice — one of my safe options — sat right next to
a tray of dumplings, which are very much *not* gluten-free. And the serving spoon
had been making the rounds between them. By the time I got there, there were
stray bits in the rice and a spoon that had touched both. The rice was a "nope."

![The full buffet line: a chafing dish of rice sitting directly above a tray of dumplings, with a shared serving spoon resting on a plate just beside them and a few stray grains scattered nearby.](/images/blog/gluten-free-for-20-seconds-full.jpg)

This is the thing about celiac that's hard to explain to people: the food can be
safe and unsafe within the same minute. Someone serves themselves dumplings,
sets the spoon down in the rice, and a dish that was fine 20 seconds ago is now
off the table for me. Nobody did anything wrong. There's no bad intent anywhere
in this story — just a buffet doing what buffets do.

My usual move is to be **first in line**, before the utensils get shuffled and
the trays get sloppy. Today I was about fourth, and that was enough. Lesson
re-learned: when the food is shared, the safety is only as good as the last
person who touched the spoon.

I'm not angry — everyone meant well. It's just the reminder that comes with the
territory. The vigilance is always on you.