Coeliac Students

[Locallassie]

My daughter has coeliac disease and has been gluten free since she was 8. She is currently sitting Nat 5s and uni is very much in the planning stage. We live close to a major university city, one she may potentially chose to attend, but we are keen for her to move out for first year. However I cannot quite get my head around how you manage coeliac disease and student living.

If she were to chose halls, the food options seem quite limited. Shared flats are a cheaper option but the thought of managing, especially in the early days when you don’t know your flatmates, seems like a minefield. The only solution I can see is a studio flat but the cost is astronomic. I’m really curious about how other coeliacs have managed, especially in first year when you’re effectively living with strangers who may not understand your restrictions.

She takes lots of glutenfree labels and is careful. Own toaster etc . She can asking is possible to place with other flat mates with eg allergies but really She just needs to be careful about labelling her own food etc

Reading with interest as am in same boat and wondering how he can keep his stuff from contamination. Butter - if donning puts a crumby knife in or what if they use his toaster ? Stressful. Maybe we can make them live together ?!

My DD's girlfriend was coeliac.

She was in a studio flat for one year.

Shared kitchen would have been tricky but doable.

She stayed with me for a week and we took the kitchen gluten free. Cleaned it, washed every utensil and pan before using them.

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My DD had a coeliac flatmate in 1st year. It was an all girls flat with 4 1st years and an RA. They were considerate (and coeliac flatmate was really careful - kept her kitchen stuff in her room and had her own cupboard for food). RA was good in reminding others too.

The Edi catered halls (Pollock) have gluten-free options (and an app so you can check what is suitable). Some of the uni halls have studios or two bedroom flats which might be less risky but will be £££. Maybe go to June open days and speak to accommodation rep.

Most sc halls give cupboard and fridge space, some with locks.

DD’s boyfriend is a coeliac and also diabetic. He and dd share a flat within a flat in the halls of residence - have own kitchen/diner, bedroom and tiny shower room. The shared kitchen for the other residents of the flat does have separate cupboards for each student, but the likelihood of cross contamination in the kitchen is high as food is routinely left out, crumbs, dishes etc.

I have a coeliac 6th former too so have been thinking about this. I read on Facebook that one parent said her son was allowed his own fridge in his room which would help (little mini one) with things like butter etc. she needed a letter from the doctor to allow it.
I think they just have to learn to be very vigilant themselves too, which by 18 / 19 you would hope would be the case. My dd also wants a gap year travelling and I'm worried about that too as think that would pose similar issues in hostels, sourcing food etc in far flung countries.

My ds is at uni and has nut allergy, I'd worried about this scenario for over a decade but it's been fine!

I didn't want him to miss out on being in a shared flat, so we thought long and hard about how to manage it.
He has his own mini fridge in his room, so that keeps his butter etc safe and he has his own toaster stored there his room too (which he uses in the main kitchen)
His flatmates were informed via email that someone in the flat has a nut allergy, so this spared him the awkwardness of telling strangers about it!

Uni students all have their own cutlery, plates etc anyway, so ds keeps his separate in his food cupboard and now he knows everyone, they tend to be cautious anyway.
Finally, he does his washing up in his own washing up bowl and never uses shared sponges etc He stores all this in his shower!

I hope all that helps?

Thank you it’s all very helpful. The ever looming element of cross contamination is the biggest concern. She is incredibly vigilant. From the get go we always wanted her to be very self sufficient and from diagnosis she has been the one asking for food in restaurants/ checking labels/ questioning albeit with our support when she was younger.
It’s good to know about Pollock as that is our local but not on doorstep uni. I just suspect that food may become quite monotonous (much like it does when you’re on hb or ai in a hotel when you’re coeliac) Knowing about her own fridge is helpful too. It’s just too easy for someone to use her spread and then cross contaminate it. Let’s be honest, extended family can struggle to understand the need for a strict gf diet so it’s quite an ask for random strangers in a shared flat!

@tattoonewbie i think that is our solution 😂

My experience is second-hand so may be of no use, but here goes. My best friend’s teenage son is coeliac and also dairy free. He spends a lot of time at our house so he has his own ‘provisions’. Butter, bread, almond milk etc I leave in the packaging it comes in but then also put in a sealed plastic bag and write ‘Fred’s - do not contaminate’ in large letters on the bag with a sharpie. Even my own two dreamy teenage boys notice the sealed bags and the sharpie messages so they don’t accidentally use his things. He’s off to uni in September and I think the plan is to store his own toaster (unplugged) in his room. The suggestion from a PP about having their own washing up bowl etc stored in their shower sounds brilliant and I will pass it on to his mum.

Good luck to your DD, OP. I know my friend is very worried about it. Her son is his own best advocate though.

DD 's big first year self catering flat had a self contained studio within it, which was occupied by someone with coeliac disease. They otherwise acted like they were a member of the big flat and used the same communal area for socialising. It's worth contacting the universities your DD is interested in and finding out what the university can offer. If there is a registered medical condition, some universities rent out studio flats for the same cost as a normal room.

If they do not get a studio flat then aim for a flat that has the fewest amount of students in. Lots of flats have just 6 sharing. She'll need to make a claim for DSA and should hopefully get her own fridge and toaster for her room. My own DD was diagnosed with coeliac disease in her final year and her housemates are very considerate. She didn't get anything from DSA but coeliac disease is registered in case she were to get glutened and need an extension on an assignment. The University campus food options are dire though. They openly say they cannot cater for coeliac disease which I think is terrible.

In first year, DD had a fridge in her room and kept all her cooking stuff in her room so they didn't get borrowed. Staff put up a notice to say that one of the students was coeliac and therefore they should be very careful not to share food / equipment without checking. She did have some tricky questions (is rice gluten free? Will you die if she touches your stuff? 🙄). She is also autistic and very anxious.

In following years she requested a studio flat due to contamination risk, which she had to submit medical evidence for but was allocated on that basis.

Some unis are great with their catering, others not so much. We asked when she went to open days!

My DD is coeliac and was in a shared flat of 8 with a communal kitchen 2 years ago.

• she made a specific request to student services and was given her own mini fridge for food. She also got one through DSA so kept one in the kitchen and one in her room!
• on the first night they were all together she explained to her flatmates how important it was and why. They were all great about it. She had the top fridge shelf (as well as her own fridge 😳) and her own freezer drawer.
• they all had separate cooking equipment and she kept her chopping boards in her cupboard
• we bought her a small air fryer and got permission from the halls for her to use it. That way she could ensure no cross contamination in the oven.
• we got lots of GF Stickers through Coeliac UK and you can even get chopping boards that are marked. Also Coeliac UK do a poster she could put in the notice board in the kitchen.

I'm very happy to give more details if you need them.

Just to echo PPs, two of mine have Type 1 diabetes so although there wasn't the contamination risk yours faces, they did need to make sure that certain foods were always available to them, and also that insulin could be stored safely (the vials are likely to break if they drop onto a hard floor). Both got permission for mini fridges for their rooms, no problem at all. Neither university even raised an eyebrow, it was very much a case of 'of course you can have a fridge in your room'. Good luck to your DD!

Thank you. It is so heartening to hear stories from people who have made it work. I hadn’t thought about the option of a fridge in her room. That feels like a really good solution. Also the bowl in the shower.
we will start speaking to accommodation services at the open days.
@Localher0 would love to hear more!

My son was diagnosed at the end of his first term. We had a few weeks over Christmas to learn a lot and fast. He has a mixture of eating in halls and self-catering.

We bought him a mini-freezer for his gf bread supply.

Halls wasn’t bad and that was nine years ago now. So you may be surprised!

My oldest went into self catered halls. He did share a kitchen, but labelled his food and his flat mates were great. He shared a house with them for the next two years. They used to take it in turns to make Sunday roasts and would all make gluten free Yorkshires. It was good for him, he cooked for himself from scratch and is now really good in the kitchen.

Another positive experience to add. Youngest diagnosed at a slightly earlier age again than your DC. He graduated last year, self-catered hall in year one, shared house in two following years. No problems. Lots of good advice already on the thread. He like others did have a fridge in his room in halls which I would strongly recommend.

I've taught a few Coeliac students over my career (and have coeliac family members). As long as they're sensible and used to being in control of their intake, they'll be fine (students with Croehns have a much tougher time IME).

It may mean your DD will have to like more like a scholar than a student, IYSWIM - club nights, pre-drinks and heavy drinking or blow out & take away eating will be tricky. And she'll just have to be clear (and vigilant) about flatmates' food & contamination, but most other students will be respectful of her condition. And if they see her in the throes or aftermath of an attack, they'll quickly get the picture.

She'd be advised to go for self-catered halls in first year, so she can cook for herself, and in her subsequent years she has choice about whom she lives with. And she should probably register with her student services/wellbeing/counselling/disability service - as well as indicate Coeliac status in her accommodation application.

In most student halls organised into flats that I've seen, each student is allocated a lockable cupboard and a shelf in the fridge. So she should be able to keep her food uncontaminated - some good storage containers would probably be useful.

To prepare her, she'll need to be able to prepare easy quick meals from scratch, and be aware of what quick snacks & take aways are possible for her. You're starting on that now, I assume.

Here's a link to the Scottish equivalent of DSA. IME it's best to apply as early as you can. After the needs assessment (also included other things as DD is autistic and has ADHD) they sent all the equipment to our house for us to take to her halls.
A good set of food storage containers are very useful - we got the glass ones as they're easier to clean/make sure they don't get contaminated.
I don't remember washing up being a problem but I think she kept a separate brush and sponges....
Sadly DD has just been glutened - her own fault really but someone had left a non GF box of biscuits in the free from section of the shop and she picked it up without realising as the packaging is very similar. It took 24 hours for it to kick in and she was pretty unwell for 3 days 😢 so really important to drum in that they have to be vigilant and responsible for themselves. We've long had a family rule that if we don't feel a restaurant knows their stuff we will just leave and I've made sure DD doesn't feel awkward about it. Hopefully yours will make friends she feels similarly comfortable with.....

My dd had a celiac student on her corridor in halls. There were two studio rooms with their own kitchen and ten rooms that shared a kitchen. He cooked in his room and ate in the communal area with everyone else.

In second year he moved in to a flat and has his own air fryer which he seems to do almost everything in! The rest of them don’t have bread because it’s just easier and once they are friends it’s just the way it is. My own dd has a different allergy and has anaphylaxis but it all just seems to be fine. The youth of today are very conscientious I’ve found.

I'm sorry I am a ceoliac and I don't get this - she would be using her own pans etc which she could keep in her room?
If she asks the SEN team / well being team for a small fridge in her room they might approve this to avoid cross contamination.
Although sorry I still don't get this because I have gluten-free food in the fridge with non gluten free food.

@ohdearagain2 I am presuming you don't share your fridge with people who don't really care if you get glutened - perhaps by "borrowing" your butter and adding breadcrumbs, or dipping a gluten covered spoon into the jam.....

Cross contamination is a real issue when people who don't understand cross-contamination share a kitchen and have no qualms about using other people's food!

It is the people who are the problem - not the foods themselves 🙂

Thank you for all your comments and hints. They have been incredibly helpful. As I said she’s incredibly well versed in managing her coeliac herself. She can cook and has travelled with her sport abroad without us a number of times and is good for advocating for herself.
It is many many years since I was a student but I certainly never lived anywhere with a locked cupboard . All utensils were shared so that has been good to know.
To answer your question @ohdearagain2 the issue is living with people you don’t know, who have no idea about coeliac disease and who won’t understand from the beginning the danger of cross contamination. We all know that family and friends can take forever to truly understand the risks of cross contamination, I think it’s very fair to have concerns about strangers who don’t know the impact of a crumby knife in the butter packet.