To insist on sending gluten free flour for DS's food tech lesson

[listsandbudgets]

DS is gluten intolerant. We've just had an email from school asking us to send ingredients for bread and also scones - fair enough not too complicated. However the email goes on to say that it's so they can look at the affect of gluten in cooking

I've emailed back saying that as DS can't have gluten I'll send the closest gluten free equivalents I can find so DS can at least participate and almost immediately got a response saying that it had to be gluten because that was the point of the lesson.

AIBU to insist? It seems very unfair to make him cook something he can not eat. I'm considering emailing back telling them that having a gluten free version will help illustrate the differences and actually enhance the lesson (but I don't want to be THAT MOTHER!!)

Bit of a cheek insisting he has to cook something he can't eat! Also can he safely handle cooking with gluten or could that trigger symptoms?
Do the rest of you eat gluten? Bit mean but he could at least bring home stuff for you to eat so it's not wasted and you could get or make something gluten free for him instead.....

How old is he, by the way?

I wouldn't simply send him in with gluten-free flour, as they probably have a standard recipe for the class which is dependent on gluten-containing flour being used.

I think that there needs to be a happy medium in this instance.

Could you e-mail the teacher and attach some of the recipes provided by Coeliac UK for scones and loaves and ask him/her whether he/she will be happy for your son to follow that one with his own ingredients?

That way, he can participate in the lesson and learn about how gluten works when used in bakery, while not feeling obliged to sit it out while the other pupils makes their scones etc.

Just as a matter of interest, has he been tested for Coeliac Disease?

If not, it's important that he does get tested, as a positive result would lead to appointments with a Dietitian who can advise on how Coeliac Disease can be managed in the best way. Undiagnosed Coeliac Disease can have consequences, so it's better to know and then reduce the risk of those happening.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/your-gluten-free-hub/home-of-gluten-free-recipes/1288039/

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/your-gluten-free-hub/home-of-gluten-free-recipes/939377/

Well yes, but is this teacher following 'standard practice'?

Sounds doubtful to me.

He/ she is wrong to refuse the gluten free flour anyway - there are plenty of recipes that OP's son could use and would serve as a good comparator.

@TheSquareMile
I agree with you and would add that no child should ever 'sit it out' in a Food lesson. They should be participating with everyone else and I'd be pretty annoyed as a parent if they weren't.
It's up to the teacher to include everyone appropriately.

Not necessarily. I don't mind loading the breadmaker as long as I'm careful not to generate too much dust ie spoon the flour, rather than pour, but I've given up on general family baking with wheat flour because I ended up with the shits, afterwards, too often to be coincidence.

I think that this is a very risky class to do when some students have a gluten allergy and flour is hard to “control” as a substance. How will school prevent your son coming into contact with flour? For example is he exempt from washing up because he might come into contact with flour ?

My son did GCSE Food tech and he needed to know the theory on stuff like gluten but didn’t have to cook recipes with allergens that he reacted to in the same way that veggie students didn’t have to cook with or handle meat.

My personal experience is that most good tech food isn’t edible. Lots of the recipes taste crap or aren’t to the student’s taste so they throw it away or give it to someone more keen.

Gluten has to be ingested to cause symptoms, it does not cause symptoms from skin exposure or inhalation.

I’m not denying the possibility that some people might be affected simply by handling flour. I am saying that if this was the case for OP’s son she would not be letting him participate in the class at all due to all the flour floating about in the air.

But you said that the standard comparator is the washed flour? Would it not over-complicate things to have one student making a second comparator? And can’t he participate by baking the recipe with the washed flour?

Flour gets everywhere, though, particularly when sifting it or sprinkling for dusting. If it can be inhaled, it can end up in the mouth. It's also not inconceivable for a kid, not particularly confident in the kitchen, to absent mindedly rub their face and increase their chance of ingesting gluten.

It absolutely can!
I have no problems digesting it I just can't see or move my mouth due to swelling even if it's only airborne 🤷‍♀️

Hold your horses, you're so quick to demand your way. I'm amazed you've missed the point of the lesson. Open your ears

I know it’s not the point of the thread, but I don’t understand why they need the whole class to bake a cake each to show the effect. Surely they only need to bake one cake for demonstration purposes? I would do what they are asking but I understand your point as it seems such a waste of food and he will miss out. I’m sure you can eat it when he gets home though and maybe he can bake another with gluten free flour at home.

Sorry been working.

DS is intolerant to the extent that his stomach swells and he gets very bad cramps and dirrorah. It's not life threatening but neither is it pleasant. He CAN eat gluten but he definitely doesn't want to.

As it happens the teacher emailed again and said he'd look at this further as there may be a sensible compromise.

Yanbu. He can cook the gluten free version and they can see the difference.
Otherwise, everyone else will be scoffing their food while your child twiddles their thumbs.

well, from bake-off I’ve learned that gluten makes dough go stretchy when kneaded. So I guess they need to make their own dough so they can knead and stretch it?

Yeah but theoretically the teacher could stand in front of the class and kneed the dough? Plus, maybe a GF cake would be a good to compare the difference.

Well Dd has coeliac disease so I wouldn’t be sending in normal flour regardless of the point of the lesson or what the teacher said. If she touched flour/dough and then inadvertently touched her lip with a speck of flour on her finger she’d be ill. She doesn’t need to eat it. Plus people with coeliac disease can sometimes react to contamination through the skin, some need to make sure they have gluten free shampoo, etc or they come out in a rash.

But surely it’s better to feel the stretchiness as than just see it?

I would have thought it would be a really interesting comparison to make some gluten free bread and look at alternative ingredients. It seems a shame if food prep isn't always accommodating of allergies.

This is an inclusion issue and the teacher ought to adapt the lesson

They wouldn’t knead and stretch cake mix, of course. Gluten has a different role in cakes, keeps them moist and stops crumbling. The kneading and stretchiness would be for bread dough.

So maybe a demo cake would be OK as not so much to notice/experience during the baking.

How can you possibly see the effect of gluten without an example of bread made without gluten.

The dough feels and reacts totally differently, and the cooked product is different as well.

Obviously a gluten free alternative would be a good part of the lesson. Although, he probably still wouldn't be able to eat it, given that it would be made in a classroom with regular flour flying about, so quite a high risk of cross contamination.

Op said they’re making bread and scones. No reason why most standard recipes wouldn’t work, generally you do have to add gluten free baking powder and xantham gum though.