Coeliacs (and Others) Assemble!

[NeverDropYourMooncup]

Inspired by another thread where somebody wants their dietary needs/wishes catered for (and for some posters, to permanently restrict the diet of other people whether they like it or not), I thought maybe those of us who have absolutely bugger all choice about the matter for medical reasons might want to vent, suggest decent foods that aren't just made of sadness and disappointment - or simply plan to take over the world?

I'm pissed off. Been feeling rough recently whilst waiting for my biologics delivery, skin crawling, horrible pain - and found that my happy discovery of Tesco's Free From Snacks, including Cheese Flavour Balls and Bacon Rashers - specifically labelled Gluten Free - contain, guess what? That's right. Fucking Gluten.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/your-gluten-free-hub/food-and-drink-information/food-alerts/tesco-recalls-free-from-snacks-because-of-undeclared-gluten/

you can get a refund if you haven't actually eaten the bastard things yet. Anything if you have eaten them? Of course not.

This follows close on from Eat Real Gluten Free Lentil chips where the manufacturer gave the wrong batch numbers as being contaminated first time round. And of course, they are sold under different names for some supermarkets.

And the Gosh falafels (vegan, by the way) and pakoras the month before.

And Suma lentil soup, and Alpro Rice Milk, and all the other things you're supposed to be grateful for paying an ridiculously high price for in exchange for something vaguely resembling food....

It would be far easier if gluten/avenin/etc were just banned for everybody, wouldn't it?

There are only so many jacket potatoes and homemade chips (because you can't trust oven chips, 95% of which are dusted in wheat to make them crunchier and browner) one person can consume before they get a tensy bit bored...

Who's with me? What shall we call ourselves?

How about the Coeliac and Allergy Liberation Front?

Right there with you OP! DS has many anaphylactic food allergies including milk, egg, nuts and legumes.

Suddenly everything vegan has pea protein or gram flour in it. Bugger off legumes! They keep changing his safe foods so they contain legumes and it's so limiting.

Also, why can't they make a wheat free bread that tastes like regular bread. Grr.

I ate the contaminated bacon rasher crisps…my tiny trust was betrayed! 😩

Fuck sake. As if it isn't fucking hard enough as it bastarding is.

One coeliac child here. She’s severely autistic and at 10 has no idea what gluten is or how to manage her medical condition. Most eateries don’t get what coeliac is and the amount of free from products are limited not to mention expensive.

It sucks so bad! I’m lactose intolerant and the amount of things that contain milk or even milk powder is so annoying 😭

Fellow coeliac here! That's absolutely awful about those products, I hadn't heard of this!
What frustrates me the most is the price of GF products, it makes me rage every time I pay 3 quid for a bag of oats and wander down the cereal ailse to see the normal oats in a bag twice the size, for like 75p. And the pathetic amount of cereal we get in our boxes that we've paid over the odds for.
Don't get me started on the shite bread with holes all down the middle!

I have a severe dairy allergy and have had to report contaminated batches. Nothing will ever compensate for the night spent vomiting and the damage to my teeth. But I keep buying (some) processed food because the other option is opting out of modern life.

Unfortunately far too much gf convenience food is ultra processed shite that I wouldn’t inflict on anyone that doesn’t have to eat it.
I was so hacked off post brexit to lose access to the Fria brand - also Amy’s Kitchen because despite the controversy there were dishes made that no one else makes now (the burrito & also scrambled egg breakfast were so handy in a pinch as both were frozen). Pieminster used to make a lovely gf veggie pie, Kevin, I think, but no more - finding veggie gf food is so much harder than meat filled gf food.
Still there are some gems for which I am very grateful:
Chips: M&S French Fries - gf & consumed a lot in our house because although both DD & I have to be gf, she is autistic & has the classic beige diet.
Bread: from Ocado Good Grain Olive & herb bread, a really dense type sour dough bread that is delicious toasted.
Also if you can find them (a couple of local shops sell these & we are south of London) Findlaters rolls (we’ve had a poppyseed knot roll, sesame seed bap, perfect for a burger and very occasionally a cheddar and onion - scrumptious and the closest I’ve ever found to normal bread).
Meridian Yeast Extract (with salt) tastes much better than marmite (imo).
The thing I miss most are the treaty baked goods (how I long for something decent with cinnamon) - there are online stores that do sell baked goods that look so tempting but the prices are eye watering…
I just don’t think you can expect people without these restrictions to have to eat ‘free from’ food though - much as that would make my own life easier.
On the other I would like clear front of packet labelling, separate sections in shops (not all do this) and big fines for contamination.

Anaphylactic to loads of things additives, preservatives, flavourings , colourings, multiple other things all none top 14, had 30+ anaphylactic reactions. Once drank some pure fruit juice with my tea, ended up in resus in a&e and a night in hospital. Weeks later it was recalled because of undeclared preservatives, but I can't prove that's what triggered me as I have so many allergies. I can't eat 99% of processed foods so have a very limited diet. I hate finding something and then changing the ingredients so then I can't have it, common one is things used to be made with actual butter which I can have, company then decides to make it cheaper by swapping for margarine which I can't have.
No eating out/holidays abroad/takeaways as it's not safe

Still haven't forgiven itsu for changing their breakfast pots so they're no longer gluten free

Can I join in please? Dd is coeliac and also now has to avoid dairy. I am always reading labels and no dinner out can be spontaneous or without a conversation with the staff.
For food safety alerts sign up at the food standards agency. (Food.gov.uk) You'll get an immediate notification. Dd ate the pakoras and ended up ill for days looking like this.....
Don't get me started on the cost. She's about to go to Uni and I'm basically having to double the allowance my muggle son got.
Chips: mccains do a baked oven chip but I've discovered a brilliant way to do them in the airfryer. Happy to share if anyone wants...
Promise sourdough bread is best we've found but is >£3 for a dinky loaf.
And all the vegan food pushing the gf ranges out of the supermarket makes me 😡

I'm with you. My family call my diet fun free. I'm coeliac and have dairy, egg and soy allergy. Sometimes it feels like the food industry is trying to kill me off!

The amount of times I get told we serve non gluten containing ingredients but then they cook them in same fryers with foods with gluten! Also why is the gf food aisle slowly getting smaller and vegan part getting bigger??? Vegan doesn't mean gf. Don't get me started on the bread that you can break a window with.

Feel better to have a rant. Thanks op 🤣

No eating out/holidays abroad/takeaways as it's not safe

That sounds so tough. I've got one restaurant where the owner is Coeliac, but I don't feel I can trust anyone else - DP is great at checking things, but none of that counts when the fuckers contaminate or mislabel stuff. I have finally worked out that when GF bread makes my mouth feel scratchy that it's probably been contaminated, though.

We were talking about maybe going on holiday and DP's first response was 'but what would we do about food?'. He doesn't even need to avoid things, but does for my benefit.

The M&S triple cooked chips ( frozen + fresh ) are labelled gf and my coeliac daughter has no issues with them and she gets effects of x contamination pretty quickly .

Also , anybody in / nr Ashford , Kent the Catch fish and chip shop does gf on Wednesday and Saturday and is excellent .

We had a lovely meal at the Whitstable Oyster place on the seafront last summer - they made a point of saying 'this has been cooked in a separate fryer on the opposite side of the kitchen in its own area, separate equipment, separate bowls, separate knives and a different chef, here's vinegar that's made from...the ketchup is certified gluten free and I can open a fresh bottle for you if you prefer and if you want some mustard, let me know and we can make some up from Coleman's powder as that's gluten free as well.'

It's a bit of a long way to go to get something to eat, though.

M and fucking S, this isn't just any bakery smell, this is butter enriched bakery smell.

Two out of four anaphylactic episodes have been caused by M&S. As a truly boring middles aged, middle classes woman, I derived little pleasure from sitting on the pavement outside M&S whilst vomiting into a dog poo bag.

I know my reactions are not quite normal but really, who the feck is allergic to a shop.

OMG Coleman's mustard powder did not used to be gluten free.

DM was a coeliac 40 odd years ago.

Not the bacon rashers!!

I'm DF GF egg free and low-FODMAP - my current bugbear is they add chicory root fibre/inulin to fucking everything to make it 'healthy' but indigestible for me!

Warburton's Bread is ok. The square rolls and tiger bread. I mean, you have to sell both kids on eBay to afford it but carbs is carbs.
Otherwise I really just miss my old life. Being a ceoliac has made me miserable, grumpy and snappy. I hate being hungry and I am now hungry ALL THE TIME.

Can't have the premixed, but the rectangular tubs you mix yourself are totally GF. And they knock your head off because it's fresh every time!

Going into a cafe today (the only cafe where we were visiting) and they proudly showed me the gf choice. Coconut macaroon or coconut macaroon.

My poor daughter had to go without while we all had a snack.

Agggh. I didn’t know about the Tesco recall. Dd is coeliac, total pain for her.

Mine is minor compared to some stories, but I was taken aback earlier this week, when a friend, a keen cook, was very scathing about people who can’t eat gluten. As though it’s a lifestyle choice. I was tempted to go into detail about the consequences of me eating gluten.

As for holidays my top tip is that when looking at hotels on trip advisor you can filter reviews for ones which mention coeliac or gluten. So if enough positive reviews on the subject we have gone in the past.

I don’t fly anymore and dd is an adult so although still lives at home goes away with friends. She’s currently touring round Italy and seems to be managing. She’s vegetarian as well. She didn’t research any cafes or restaurants before going but we did read Italy is very good for coeliacs.