Coeliac disease isn’t a fad, or a preference, it’s a serious condition

Usually, this results in a pleasant, happy experience where I’m not made violently ill by my meal, and I can go about my business with a full belly and a happy heart.

Last week, unfortunately, was not one of those times. Despite my rigorous checking and double checking, I was given a meal that didn't just ruin the next three days, but my trust in the restaurant. Rising costs and stagnant wages mean that for many of us, eating out has become something of an extravagant treat, which makes it even more frustrating when you're paying a premium to risk poisoning yourself.

Eating out should be one of life's pleasures (Image: free)

When it comes to ensuring the safety of people who have allergies and intolerances, responsibility is shared: the person must make their needs clear to whomever is taking their order, who in turn must clearly communicate that to whomever is preparing and handling the food.

At every stage there must be clarity, awareness and good communication, without that the system breaks down and people can become seriously ill, or even die. Having worked in kitchens, and as someone with food hypersensitivities, I am incredibly sympathetic to those trying their best to accommodate the needs of every customer that places an order.

Industrial kitchens are fast paced, stressful environments, with long hours, wages that often do not reflect the labour demanded of workers, and intense physical and mental pressure. Despite this, the vast majority of experiences I've had at restaurants have been positive, service staff are knowledgeable and efficient, and chefs are accommodating and willing to omit, change and add ingredients to ensure the safety of their food.

Though more people in society may have and understand food allergies and intolerances than ever before, they aren't, contrary to popular belief, entirely a modern phenomenon.

Hieroglyphic inscriptions in the tomb of Pharaoh Menes of Egypt revealed that his cause of death was a wasp sting, indicating anaphylaxis was taking place even in 3100 BCE. In more recent history, Richard III of England is believed to have had an allergy to strawberries.

As with many conditions, increased awareness, testing and progression in modern medicine lead to an increase in the prevalence of allergies, however experts also note a dramatic increase in the number of people living with food sensitivity.

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The food standards agency reports that around 2 million people in the UK have a diagnosed food allergy, while 600,000 live with coeliac disease. Though fatal incidents of anaphylaxis have decreased with improved awareness and treatment of allergies, the attacks themselves, and indeed cases of hospitalisation for these attacks, has actually been rising, with the most fatal allergic reactions coming from milk, which has a high protein content and as such has a much smaller fatal dose.

There are stereotypes of people with allergies and intolerances that refuse to go away: they’re fussy, stubborn people who just don’t like something and have taken it upon themselves to make it everyone else’s problem and cause more work for other people.

Trust me, if I could eat everything that’s put down to me I would save myself and others a great deal of time, hassle and money. On more than one occasion, I've been assured when informing people who take my order that I can't eat certain foods that I “won't be able to taste it” as if I were expressing a preference, or an aversion to the flavour.

I’ve even had former friends put ingredients in my food to “test” whether unknowingly ingesting it would make any impact, as if my stomach has a psychosomatic aversion to certain foods, or indeed as if I were lying about the whole thing.

The annoyance of my resulting (very real) illness was eclipsed by learning that not only was there the assumption either that intolerances aren’t real or that I was lying about mine, but that there were people around me willing to test that theory at the expense of my health and safety.

These negative preconceived notions of those with food aversions were never more apparent than around Christmas time last year, when there was a segment on “this Morning” entitled “I’m being forced to have a gluten-free Christmas”.

Gluten free mince pies (Image: free)

What followed felt like a full house in the bingo card of stereotyping those with intolerances, from labelling the person, who had coeliac disease, as difficult, and the food they eat as unappetising to non-coeliacs, to blatant disinformation and ignorance about everything from cross-contamination, to just how debilitating ingesting gluten can be for those with the disease.

Coeliac disease isn’t a fad, or a preference, it’s a serious condition, the complications of which can include nerve damage, infertility and osteoporosis. Removing exposure to gluten is essential not only to prevent digestive symptoms, themselves deeply unpleasant, but also avoiding irreparable damage to the body.

Preventing cross-contamination isn’t just a case of ingredient separation, but also paying close attention to any utensils, cutlery and cookware. A more careful approach to cross contamination and food safety doesn't just help people with food sensitivities and allergies, but also reduces cases of food borne illnesses which can affect us all, since it is estimated that there are 2.4 million annual cases of food borne illness in the UK from the 11 most common pathogens found in food, sadly resulting in around 180 deaths every year.

Though there is no obligation for restaurants to provide for every single allergy and intolerance that they might encounter, there is a responsibility to be honest, thorough and informed about the food they prepare and serve. By law, food businesses need to inform customers if their food contains one or more of the 14 recognised allergens, but beyond that, knowing exactly what's in the food and being able to clearly convey it helps customers to make informed decisions, and cuts down on stress for everyone involved.