The Myth of Hidden Gluten
It appears to have escaped the attention of some, but gluten is not permitted to ‘hide’ in food. Gluten has to be declared in ingredients lists — in the form of wheat, barley, rye or oats. The name of the…
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opinion / rants
2015: The 10 Best and Worst in Allergy & FreeFrom
The Best! 10. #fruitisnotapudding Demonstrating that coeliacs have a top sense of humour and exemplifying how good can come from not-good, Carly at GlutenFreeB.com runs this light-hearted annual award for the worst gluten-free dessert offering, and this year’s winner is memorably,…
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Marketing Genius? (Part II)
Genius are no stranger to this blog, and my criticism of their pursuit of a marketing strategy which seems to involve aligning themselves – and the gluten-free diet (GFD) – with fitness, sport and sporting excellence was covered in a…
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Hipsters, gluten and food snobbery
I’m not 100% sure what a hipster is, but it appears to involve multiple tattoos and skinny jeans and possibly an unruly beard and maybe implanting one of those black Polo-mint-shaped earrings through which you can see daylight into a…
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Three Months: Quick in Daily Mail World
You may remember the brouhaha in August when the Daily Mail claimed the NHS spent £116 million on prescription ‘gluten-free junk food’. It screamed ‘Doughnuts and Pizzas on the NHS‘ – if you’re a coeliac and can bear to be…
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CAMRA, Confusion and Cocoa
Last Monday, 16th November, the Independent published an article – CAMRA: UK’s biggest organiser of beer festivals refuses to stock ales from breweries that don’t provide full list of ingredients. The paper billed the move by CAMRA (The Campaign for…
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Healthy Snacking by Boots
Earlier this summer I came across the display below in a branch of Boots local to me. Under ‘healthy snacking’ are stocked Tasty Little Numbers jelly beans, fruit-flavour chews by Fruitella, Udi’s bagel chips, TLN biscuit bars, Sweet Freedom ‘Choc…
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The allergy fakers aren’t all allergy fakers
A quick post about the article ‘Why Food Allergy Fakers Need to Stop‘ – published a couple of weeks ago, which proved a massive hit on social media among many coeliacs and food allergics – and its follow-up of sorts,…
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Is joking about incurable disease the new black?
Imagine a world where “Chronic obesity is the new black” was a signpost to WeightWatchers ready meals. Or perhaps “Diabetes type I is the new black” was the slogan accompanying some sugar-free chocolate. I wonder whether we’re a step closer…
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Gluten free bread: is it really so bad?
Investigative food journalist Joanna Blythman’s Bad Food Britain is a brilliant book: a devastating critique of much about what is wrong with our country’s diet and attitudes towards food which, almost ten years after publication, is still relevant and valid….
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