Issues in food allergy and intolerance, coeliac disease, gut disorders, eczema, 'free from' and all allergies and sensitivities
Last Wednesday and Thursday were spent in Dublin, having been invited to chair a day and a half’s worth of judging sessions for the inaugural FreeFrom Food Awards Ireland, launched at the end of 2015 by John Burke of GF…
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This is a list of foods and drinks that coeliacs sent me via Twitter in response to the request in the title. Other than the obvious — ordinary breads, pastas, cakes, biscuits, cereals — there are always less clear-cut examples…
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Another of the problems caused by free-from brands dissing such allergens as wheat (usually, but sometimes milk) is that fellow free-from brands are tempted to do likewise. Where Genius have led, others have followed. I don’t know much about this…
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“Supermarket gluten-free food rip-off” said the Sun. “The gluten-free food price shock” said the Mail. The stories were based on research by Channel 4’s Supershoppers, which was screened yesterday at 8.30pm. The claim? That gluten-free shoppers are being diddled by…
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I once flagged up to acquaintances from various corners of the ‘free from’ industry the wrapping from a paleo bar bearing the expression “Free From Gluten”. The legally permitted term, according to legislation (see clause 44), is “Gluten Free”. As you…
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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 list of 14 allergens can be seen here. Gluten and dairy are not on it. But gluten-containing cereals and milk are. This is not a trivial distinction. Tesco currently have a milk free section and a separate dairy free…
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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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A friend of mine’s latest hobby is ‘yellow stickering’, as she’s dubbed it: doing the supermarket rounds during late hours for ultra-reduced products set to turn past their sell-by or best-before at midnight. Well, I just inadvertently stumbled into a…
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I’m still processing last month’s anti-gluten Twitter campaign from ex-Dragon Duncan Bannatyne – a man who, remember, warned hundreds of thousands of followers against accepting nutritional advice from dietitians trained to give it, and in the same unqualified breath dished…
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