How Safe Are Coffee Shops?

Another one from me. I like a soy latte, and normally go for Costa or Café Nero. Staying local at moment and had soy latte in small local coffee shop. It's a nice place, but, lo and behold, I've been glutened. It was a take away latte, so debating whether to go back to the coffee shop and check what their procedures are. The only thing I can think of, from risk perspective, is the jug that the milk is heated in has been in dishwasher/sink with gluten crumbs, etc. Or, as I've often seen happen, the café staff wipe the hot steam pipe (that goes into the jug) with a cloth if the previous coffee has been made with normal milk - so maybe a cloth has been used to wipe a gluten surface and then used on the steam pipe (I didn't watch to see how the coffee was being made). I've never had this issue in the mainstream coffee shops, and I am instinctively wary of small cafés for the general food gluten risk, but wondering if anyone has been glutened by something as basic as a latté/coffee from a coffee shop?

[nellie237]

I've got a nice local coffee shop, and the coffee is very good and made with care. However, I watched them make a smoothie for somebody.....stickers taken off apples/cucumber straight out of its plastic wrap/spinach straight out of packet....all straight in the juicer without being washed. I recognised the spinach packet as the greengrocer next door sells it.....it is not 'washed and ready to eat.'

A lot of these places use eco dishwashers too. A company I worked for got one, and had to abandon it several weeks later. Every morning somebody in the office had to put the thing on the 'fill cycle' where a tank fills and heats up. Then it is used however many times during the day, and the 'empty cycle' was run in the evening.

Edit: I have not as far as I know been glutened by coffee yet.

[Hidden in reply to nellie237]

Nice to know their smoothies come with the addition of gut bacteria enhancing clay, and the possible addition of insect protein. Very gut friendly..........

The dishwasher thing makes me wary as well. I don't have one, but sometimes (back in the normal times pre pandemic) use to stay over at a friends. Every spoon and fork from her dishwasher, after washing, had crud stuck to it. Maybe she was using an eco-wash.

It's sad to say but the big generic highstreet chains that everyone hates are a safer bet.

[Cooper27]

It'll be oat milk! All coffee shops seem to offer oat milk these days and it's all steamed by the same nozzle as regular milk.

[Hidden in reply to Cooper27]

I did wonder had they mixed oat milk up with soy milk, but using same steam nozzle for both would make sense as well. I'm going to actually go back tomorrow and ask what's what. Crazy that the basics are so lacking, when you can't even trust a coffee.

[Hidden]

Hi Ben, My experience os that squeaky clean coffee shops are better than ordinary cafes and have enjoyed a chocolate brownie with a latte a few times.

So I am very sorry that you've had a bad experience and hope that you feel better soon. 👍

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Jerry. It is quite a nice little coffee shop, rather than a greasy spoon, but something has definitely gone amiss. I'll be giving it a miss from here on in, and will be sticking to the big faceless highstreet corporate cafés.