Gluten-free MYTH-BUSTING

Recently I went to a reflexologist who said she could rid me of my coeliac disease. Then she casually mentioned she could cure cancer. Seriously. Slightly horrified, I asked for my money back and drove home feeling very despondent. I thought people knew better than to make such wild and reckless claims?

But then I went online. Pinterest was covered in complete rubbish about eating gluten-free. ‘Don’t drink vodka!’ read one. ‘It’s made from grain.’ I stared dumbfounded. I thought it was common knowledge vodka was safe on a gluten-free diet.

It got worse. More and more so-called experts were sharing information that was, at best, incorrect and, at worst, downright dangerous.

Becky Sheeran’s well documented Twitter experience at Wetherspoons is a case in point. After eating their listed gluten-free halloumi fries and getting ill, Becky was told the fries had been cooked in the same oil as battered vegetables. When she protested, Wetherspoon’s claimed they’d done nothing wrong. She found another coeliac, Tori Massey, had been given a similar response. Furthermore, she’d been told, “Due to the high temperature of the fryer this destroys any residual gluten from other products cooked in the fryer.” Wetherspoons were reportedly investigated by Trading Standards, but the resulting testing showed they complied with regulations. But Coeliac UK responded that “analysis of gluten in such products can give inaccurate results”. That said, it does cite a Salisbury Wetherspoon as a recommended place to eat out.