"Coeliac disease is common and affects 1 in 100 people. However only 36% who have the condition have been diagnosed which means there are currently nearly half a million people who have coeliac disease but don’t yet know." (Coeliac UK)
There are also gluten intolerance and general sensitivity which is reported to be more common in the UK than Coeliac disease (Warburtons gluten free, 2022), however, a study hosted by the University of Maryland estimated that there was a higher prevalence of Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), with these figures ranging from 1% to 13% of the population (Sapone. et al, 2012). It has also been noted that 13% of a general population sample in the UK had reported symptoms attributed to gluten, indicating towards being gluten sensitive (Aziz, 2014).
Within these reports there had also been indication of the difficulty to fully distinguish unique gluten reactionary traits themselves. There had been an increase of non medically diagnosed people who decided to have a dietary change for their health, however, they had been defined as 'avoid gluten' rather than NCGS, this could have complicated the figures previously as they may not have been fully factored into the statistics.
When visiting the r/celiac on Reddit there was one post stating their frustration with being gluten free while trying to be social, and commenter stated that "I avoided diagnosis knowing how hard it was going to be. Thought I had a soy allergy and got used to reading labels very carefully.... It's been every bit as difficult as I thought to avoid gluten, and worse because 1, the reaction is delayed so it's hard to link up, and 2, I didn't know I'd have to fear tiny amounts." (Original, 2020) While this is only one person, this does indicate that there could be people that are not officially diagnosed due to the lifestyle change or societal change that being coeliac could cause.
The image above is of Winchester North Dominoes and how it is an accredited venue on the Coeliac UK website, with the other Dominoes also is listed on this site. The reason this is an issue is because this clearly is only centralised on the fact there are gluten free pizzas available due to the Schär brand that they stock and not their methods of cooking.
While this may appear fine and in line with Coeliac UK's aim, however at the top of the site there is a disclaimer which you see below.
This makes it even more confusing for people with dietary needs, as a trusted organisation, such as coeliac UK, should be considering cross contamination with their accredited approval. Unlike gluten free for lifestyle or for sensitivity, Coeliac's cannot have contaminated food. In fact, at the start of this semester I had ordered Dominoes on occasion - due to it being on the Coeliac UK website - before realising the gluten free had been contaminated, and thus I became unwell and did not feel better until a week had passed. As mentioned previously in my opening inspiration, I had been frustrated and it was another location I had to mention cross off for available food.
When I was researching further, Coeliac UK appears to be one of the trusted sources of information about coeliac living. One post in particular on the r/Celiac subreddit, enquired about where people receive gluten free information.
"...with the exception of Heinz baked beans and some soups, as they have always had coeliac UK approval, only used fresh, unprocessed foods," (/u/Romana_Jane, 2022)
However, the comment by user 'ms_d_meanour' critiques the subreddit for the extent of the subreddits consideration of gluten, which would include items such as makeup, lip balm, envelopes, hair products and other materials. "Completely agree a lot of stuff in this sub seems to go well beyond what Coeliac UK and the hospital dieticians tell you to worry about." (/u/Ms_d_meanour, 2022) both of these comments are using Coeliac UK as their trusted reference point. I myself, would learn from Coeliac UK when I was first diagnosed and getting adjusted to this new lifestyle.
I would like to reiterate that while Coeliac UK is a reputable organisation and well trusted within the Coeliac community, the restaurants and venues area even on their site cannot be trusted with full confidence that it is okay to eat at that venue as a coeliac person.
Bibliography:
Aziz, I., Et Al. (2014). A UK study assessing the population prevalence of self-reported gluten sensitivity and referral characteristics to secondary care. European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 26(1), pp.33–39. doi:10.1097/01.meg.0000435546.87251.f7.
BrokenlySuccessful (2012). r/Celiac - The social parts of celiac disease are complete bullsh*t. [online] reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac/comments/bku01d/the_social_parts_of_celiac_disease_are_complete/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2022].
Catassi, C., Et Al. (2017). The Overlapping Area of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) and Wheat-Sensitive Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): An Update. Nutrients, [online] 9(11). doi:10.3390/nu9111268.
Mirbee81 (2022). r/Celiac - Where do you get your GF- related information/ decisions from? [online] reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Celiac/comments/st1s3z/where_do_you_get_your_gf_related_information/ [Accessed 12 Feb. 2022].
Sapone, A., Et Al. (2012). Spectrum of gluten-related disorders: consensus on new nomenclature and classification. BMC Medicine, 10(1). doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-13.
Warburtons Gluten Free (n.d.). Gluten Intolerance and Sensitivity | Warburtons Gluten Free. [online] www.warburtonsglutenfree.com. Available at: https://www.warburtonsglutenfree.com/gluten-intolerance-and-sensitivity#:~:text=If%20you%20often%20feel%20ill [Accessed 3 Feb. 2022].
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