My Trip To The Uk

[NorthernElf]

Just thought I'd write a short bit about my experience. I got glutened a few times and now I have some tips to help others avoid this !

Read, read, read labels.

Things that are safe here aren't necessarily safe over there. My second night there we had lamb with mint sauce and I was pretty ill the next morning. Many of their condiments over there contain MALT vinegar - mustard, hot mustard, HP sauce, etc. Ugh. I should have read the label - it said it contained gluten.

Know your cooking methods.

Fast forward a few days to a Bed & Breakfast in Scotland. I order a couple of poached eggs with my coffee & eat my Mrs. Mays gluten free nut bar, patting myself on the back. My second egg tastes kind of vinegary - my sister in law says that if you poach eggs in just boiling water, vinegar is added so they keep their shape. It's not long until I'm very nauseous and visiting the bathroom and just wanna go lie down...as we're touring the sites. The light goes on the next morning while I'm in the shower contemplating breakfast - of course, they would have used MALT vinegar again ! I have hardboiled eggs at breakfast.

I get ill from a smoothie that I didn't read the label on. Apparently, smoothies with added barley are big (ugh).

The UK has pretty good labelling - most products have an allergy alert written right on them and wheat, barley, and gluten are listed if present. What gets difficult is when you grab a product that doesn't have it - are there no allergens present or does this product just not include the alerts ? Hence my fourth glutening on baked beans. Ack - no allergen listing BUT gluten in the ingredients that I missed (thought I could go by the alert alone). Ugh.

I'm so excited Canada is going to start this type of labelling by the end fo the year.

Products I liked in the UK...

gluten-free pita bread, naan bread, pasta, cookies, Walkers crisps (chips - says suitable for celiacs right on the bag, baked chips too). The larger grocery stores have a "Free From" section that includes vegetarian and gluten-free products, all labelled. Marks & Spencers have take away salads such as grilled chicken and feta, etc. that have the allergy alert on them (many with no gluten, yay!).

Oh, and I really enjoyed Greens gluten free beer !

[MauriceReed]

Hi, glad you enjoyed your trip to the U.K.

Because of Coeliac UK, the Coeliac society here in the Uk, a massive amount of pressure has been made on food manufacturers and supermarket chains to get foods clearly labelled. This has worked and when it comes to shopping it is very easy to spot safe foods as they should have the crossed gran symbol on them and alongside the ingredients list a section clearly showing any major allergy concerns such as - contains gluten, nuts, eggsm milk etc. Also, there is now a much enhanced range of gluten-free foods available from both UK and overseas food companies.

As in any country, there are always pitfalls when it comes to eating out. Again, thanks to Coeliac UK, more restauraneurs are now aware of special dietary needs and can cope. But wherever you go you will always come across people in the catering trade who have no understanding of the condition or treat it as a chosen option like vegetarianism as opposed to a medical condition.

*note over here we spell Celiac with an 'o' in it - don't ask me why

[clairet]

My 3yr old daughter has ceoliac disease and the labelling in UK is very good. Coeliac UK have an awareness week in May and the topic this year was eating out without fear. The one item I purchased for eating out was a dietary card which comes in very useful when requesting help on what she can eat. I paid

[gfp]

Hi, glad you enjoyed your trip to the U.K.

Because of Coeliac UK, the Coeliac society here in the Uk, a massive amount of pressure has been made on food manufacturers and supermarket chains to get foods clearly labelled. This has worked and when it comes to shopping it is very easy to spot safe foods as they should have the crossed gran symbol on them and alongside the ingredients list a section clearly showing any major allergy concerns such as - contains gluten, nuts, eggsm milk etc. Also, there is now a much enhanced range of gluten-free foods available from both UK and overseas food companies.

As in any country, there are always pitfalls when it comes to eating out. Again, thanks to Coeliac UK, more restauraneurs are now aware of special dietary needs and can cope. But wherever you go you will always come across people in the catering trade who have no understanding of the condition or treat it as a chosen option like vegetarianism as opposed to a medical condition.

*note over here we spell Celiac with an 'o' in it - don't ask me why

Actually CUK have campaigned for what they claim to be clearly labelled.

some facts:

CUK have trademarked the crossed grain symbol. Companies cannot use it without paying a royalty.

Most small resto's etc. obviously can't afford this....

CUK finding is almost entirely from the food industry. They are a registered charity and hence must publish their financial reports.

A limited company exists at the same address with the same directors (or did last time I checked) you can find this on companies house web site. This company pays no rent to the charity (according to the year end financial report) and its directory undertake consultancy work...

CUK hide research that disagrees with their policies and goals, even when paid for out of the charity.

CUK campaigned for gluten-free to be gluten-lite. <200ppm gluten ... in the UK. GIG are supporting the same in the US but at least Cynthia Kupper said there is no scientific evidence that this does not cause harm to ce(o)laics.

CUK campaigned AGAINST having allergens listed .... Its statement said this would be confusing to its members who should use the gluten-free food and drink directory.

In almost all cases the head office would seem to be more strongly protecting the interests of those that fund it than its members.

This doesn't mean individual regional support groups are bad... just that the food industry is exerting far too much control.