Saturday, June 27, 2015

Gluten-free lifestyle Nimrods: Stop screwing things up for those of us who are actually Celiac

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease around 11 years ago after almost 10 years of semi-misery. I feel better, I'm happier, I'm more productive. It's been an amazing transformation.

And, due to many life-style nimrods, there are more and more gluten free products on the market.

But, people who are GF dilettantes can cause real problems for those of us who really are in trouble if we glutenize.

Here is a great example from WAPO (hat tip to LeBron):

"How much do you think the rise of diet fads and awareness about food allergies has played into that?

A lot. But I'm not a fan of the attitude some people have about it.

A woman recently came into the restaurant, and asked whether the couscous that was part of a dish was gluten free. I said no, because couscous isn't, I think we can all agree, gluten free. Anyone who is gluten free, I thought at the time, should know this, that couscous is not gluten free. Couscous is full of gluten. Anyway, I told her that we could replace it for potatoes, but that the sauce that comes with the dish is made with flour, so I'll leave that off. And she said, 'Oh no, you can leave the sauce on, because some gluten is okay with me.'

That person is clearly then not gluten free. And they are making it difficult for people who do have celiacs disease, and depend on restaurants to make sure that there is no gluten in their meal. Those are the people who really upset servers, and I think rightly.

The ones that say they're gluten free and then order a beer. Does that happen often?

Oh yeah. It happens with beer, and it happens with desserts. Someone will say they are gluten free, that they can't have pasta, or need this or that removed from their plate, and then order like a chocolate brown or a piece of cake or something else that clearly has tons of gluten."


My Mom once told a waiter she was a vegetarian and then ordered pork tenderloin.

People, don't be like my mom!

Me and people of my digestive ilk need to be taken seriously when we say we need a gluten free meal.

1 comment:

Russ Nelson said...

Pigs are vegetarian, so isn't pork vegetarian, too?