Everyone likes eating out occasionally or inviting friends and relatives round for a meal, but for some people this isn’t as easy or a straightforward as it sounds.
Over 10 million people in Britain say they have special dietary requirements, and as it’s coming to the end of Coeliac Awareness week, our reporter Su Roys spoke to chef and food allergy writer Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, and Becky Excell – a food blogger diagnosed with gluten intolerance.
Becky says there are plenty of things people can do who have dietary requirements to educate friends and family when it comes to eating: “People can be worried, apprehensive and scared that they may poison you, but the best thing to do is to offer them support and tell them what they can provide for you – there’s loads and loads of different options, or say that you’ll bring a pudding round. It takes a lot of stress and strain away from them so the dinner party scenario can be more about happiness and fun and sociability.”
Su also asked food allergy expert and trained chef Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, who set up Genius Foods in 2009 after having the same problems finding good quality alternatives for her then 3 year old son, what impact living with food intolerance has on daily life.