Okay, so today I got seriously curious about gluten-free stuff because my cousin just got diagnosed with celiac disease. She asked me, “Hey, is tilapia actually gluten-free?” And I straight up realized… I had no clue. Like, zero. So I decided to dig into it myself and figure out what’s actually safe for her to eat.
Starting with Google searches
Grabbed my laptop first thing after breakfast. Typed in “is tilapia gluten free” and hit enter. Boom – tons of results popped up. Mostly blogs and health sites saying, “Yeah, fish is naturally gluten-free!” But I wasn’t totally convinced. Like, what if it’s processed or fried or something? My cousin could get super sick from even a tiny bit of cross-contact.
Checking the grocery store labels
Drove straight to the supermarket. Headed to the frozen fish section and started grabbing tilapia boxes. Reading every single label: Ingredients: TILAPIA FILLETS. That’s it. Nothing else. Whew. But then I noticed the “may contain” warning on some brands. One bag clearly said, “Processed in a facility that also handles wheat.” Noped right out of that one. Called my cousin right there in aisle 5: “Don’t buy Brand X – it’s risky!”
Talking to the seafood counter guy
Walked over to the fresh fish counter. Asked Steve, the guy who always wears that fish-print apron, “How do you handle your tilapia back there?” He wiped his hands and said they only cut plain fish on that counter. But then he pointed at the breaded cod nearby: “We do that messy breading stuff in a separate sink.” Felt kinda relieved. Still, I drilled him: “But are the knives and pans cleaned after gluten stuff?” Steve laughed – “Yeah, we bleach everything twice daily!” Made a mental note: fresh tilapia from Steve’s counter? Probably safe.
My takeaways so far
- Plain tilapia itself is gluten-free – fish doesn’t magically grow wheat!
- Packaged stuff needs hardcore label checks – especially for “shared facility” warnings
- Talk to humans handling the food – they spill more truth than any fancy website
So yeah, my cousin can totally eat tilapia as long as it’s naked fish without risky factory shenanigans. Gonna try cooking some plain grilled tilapia for her this weekend. I’ll stick it on foil away from my garlic bread pans… just in case.