Helen Vajk

Yes, gluten-free bread is harder to make and its flour are getting more expensive, and bread without gluten does not have the lasting power of regular bread.  But bread is not the only staff of life!  Reared a celiac kid from age 2 many years ago without bread.  Discover corn tortillas. Hamburgers:  do a lettuce wrap, tasty and healthier.  Hot dogs - eat them without the bun, just like a sausage - or not, many folks go their whole lives without ever eating a hot dog.  Giving up bread is tough (for my kid, he has never tasted actual French sourdough, so no loss there), but it does not have to mean miserable meals.

I am celiac since age 50, but reared a celiac son diagnosed age 2 in 1978. There was no gluten-free bread then, and overall food labeling was incomplete. The upside was that all our kids ate only unprocessed foods, and my grocery bill was lower than it had been. Some good pointers:  bread is not essential. There are healthy carbs with no extra gluten-free cost: potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, Thai rice noodles etc. Best if luck, but please eat gluten-free. Your family needs you healthy. 

My son was diagnosed as celiac at age 2 in 1978.  They did not have blood tests then, did not want to do a biopsy because of his excellent improvement with the gluten-free diet, the increased risk of a general anesthetic in small children (back then, no sevoflurane, no pulse oximeters, etc.).  So, at age 12, the pediatric gastroenterologist, when asked to do a biopsy by the pediatrician, just laughed and said, with this child's history of flourishing on the diet, and having severe reactions with inadvertent gluten exposure, he wouldn't even believe a negative biopsy, just think that by bad luck none of his 6 biopsies hit the right spot, rare but can happen. Asked me, Mom if the biopsy were negative would you take the child off his gluten-free diet?  I said No, unless someone comes to my house and does the subsequent laundry.  

Celiacs should also have the right to complete labeling of gluten presence in medications, and all essential medications should be manufactured gluten free.   

Hard to believe, but unfortunately seems true.  This kind of "mislabeling" is actually bodily assault for celiacs, consciously done for profit.  

46 minutes ago, Scoop said:

I can see that - it's like a liquid/gel.  I wouldn't bring peanut butter unless it was on a sandwich or crackers.  I mean, if you brought a jar of mayo, soup, and it's bigger than the allowed size ,they're going to throw it out!  I even dress my salads before i fly.  And make a hearty salad that can handle it (kale, broccoli).  

Agree.  Security is looking for possible plastique type explosives.  Wouldn't be good for celiac PR if a destructive person got on board with a real or fake celiac letter.  

Emirates (2 long flights to India from California) had excellent gluten-free meals, but I still had a stash of Kind bars for return, just in case.   Lufthansa had a single dinner meal that was correctly gluten-free and also low sodium and vegan and something else that I forget, and was unsurprisingly taste-free as well.  The problem was that in the morning they tried to serve me a wheat roll, said that they "didn't do specially gluten-free type meals for breakfasts."   I semi-politely told the flight attendant that unfortunately I still specially had celiac disease in the mornings too.  Several passengers near me applauded.  Good old Kind bars proved their worth.  US airlines are hit and miss.  Air France served me a gluten-free mushroom risotto that could be served in a very good restaurant. . . they were forgiven all the other travelers' indignities.  Aer Lingus to Ireland is excellent for gluten-free travel!

Not a fun experience, my sympathies.  FYI I've done over 30 short trips with medical missions to various destinations.  Finding gluten-free food in such countries as India & Bangladesh was surprisingly easy.  Latin America is the home of corn tortillas, lots of naturally gluten-free food.  Even Ethiopia was good - they do have Italian cuisine/restaurants which the hospital served to us, but their usual hospital food was based on teff, naturally gluten-free.  And I got favorable comment from the Ethiopian staff - look, Dr. H loves our food!  BUT never trust airports, for food or delays.  Save enough gluten-free food such as Kind bars for the journey home.  

Dreadful.   The hotel could surely have done better with what they had on hand.  They must have had eggs, scramble in a clean pan.  Bake a potato, etc.  

On 6/30/2021 at 3:17 PM, Scott Adams said:

This is great to hear, and I did not know this about prescriptions in the UK. I hope the USA can finally deal with this and disclose gluten on prescription meds.

It is preposterous that we PAY a pharmaceutical company for medications, while not knowing if it will make us sick.  And it would not cost a fortune for them to fix this.  

The pharmaceutical industry makes a profit better than the food industry.  So why is there any excuse for not knowing and testing whether the 8 main allergens are in the medications that we are PAYING FOR? Some years ago I had to get anti-malaria meds before a medical trip to West Africa.  Several email conversations with GlaxoSmithKlein not helpful.  Finally filled the prescription, took one Malarone at home.  Seriously not gluten-free.   Luckily doxycycline works, found from celiac site that it was OK.  What happened the gluten in medication bill reintroduced in April 2021? 

Almost all See's are gluten-free, details on their website.  Almost all Leonidas.  

The training is not once and done.  All new staff have to be trained, and refresher training is also a must.  As a celiac for many years, I would prefer to pay slightly higher prices than to go back to no options for eating out.

Our youngest son was diagnosed as celiac in 1978, age 2.   He had to be so disciplined at school and at friends' houses, that I felt strongly he should be safe in his own home.  My husband fully agreed, and the other kids didn't care as long as we had lots of potatoes, chili and ice-cream.  And all processed food was out, a health benefit to them.  So when I became celiac at age 50 I already knew the drill.  Some close friends have surprised me by making sure I had gluten-free food at their house.  Really it's only good manners to take care of the celiacs in our midst.