For the love of god, if you don’t understand what a gluten-free diet entails, if you don’t understand the damage that is caused to a celiac patients small intestine when they eat something with gluten in it, or if you think gluten-free eating is some frivolous fad, please DO NOT offer gluten-free food! This is a serious medical condition, and when many people with this condition eat gluten, they feel very sick. They also jack up their chances of getting a very serious bowel cancer. Even those who don’t get stomach cramps, fatigue and all those awesome digestive symptoms are still having their intestines shredded, although unbeknownst to them (which is probably even worse, since they will be oblivious and continue to eat your poisonous food).
Now, because you claimed to offer gluten-free food, took my money in exchange for such, but didn’t live up to your side of the bargain, I will be intensely sick for about a week, and the symptoms will linger less intensely for another week. This is made all the more awesome by the fact that I am struggling with my other illness (something that many people with celiac have: several diseases), as well as brutal side effects from switching medications. I’m also waiting for the blood results back after being tested for a potentially fatal disease.
I struggle everyday with my health, and suffer everyday from my illnesses or a side effect of my medication. Thanks for making my struggle that much more difficult. Oh, and charging me money for it too. —Sick of Being Sick
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2011.
PK?
http://files.myopera.com/clean/albums/4303…
Hope you’re feeling better OP. Food should never be an enemy. Rooooo.
just lay some sort of fried, roasted, or boiled dead animal in front of me.
Report their asses to the appropriate authorities.
Disgraceful. Reminds me of the fat free yogurt Seinfeld episode. You should report them they’re profiting from poisoning people under false pretenses.
prediction: a large proportion of celiacs will be “cured” in 5 yr’s..just say’n..(predict a downward trend of lactose intolerent peeps too)
More people need to be educated about celiac disease and the effects of gluten.
my pa has celiac and tries to be uber careful, but he knows if there is the slightest amount of gluten in something. he knows for days on end 🙁
Well since I don’t run a restaurant and no one in my family needs gluten free and I do not cook for anyone with special needs, then I don’t have to be educated about it.
I get sick and tired about people saying you need to be educated in this, that, or the other thing. One gets educated when they have a need or a curiosity about something. I do not need to know how the sun works or the mating ritual of a slug but I have no doubt there is someone out there who thinks I need to be eduacated about it.
Not my bitch. My problem is more related to the large intestine and I can tolerate gluten. But I sympathize with this bitch. I know what I can and can’t eat and it’s pretty simple for me because it’s all visible food and more related to texture than an invisible entity. I don’t have to make a huge deal out of it — and I can generally get away with ordering safe foods (like white bread and rice instead of brown/whole wheat for example) or picking out the trigger foods on my plate. But some folks, like OP, DO. It’s not about being a pain in the ass — it’s about being healthy and not feeling like shit.
But, if I do eat something I shouldn’t I’m suffering for a week or more too. Sometimes an attack can last for longer than a month and it can be sheer agony. I met a guy who has a VERY bad case of crohn’s in May at a friend’s wedding and he is probably the sickliest person I’ve met. He’s had 8 surgeries to remove portions of his large intestine and was under the supervision of a nurse during the weekend. We had a chat about trigger foods and it was actually nice to talk to someone who understands because very few people do. This is a guy who almost died and was below 70 pounds when he was diagnosed. These diseases are real and can be a nightmare to go through and thankfully my symptoms are mild/moderate in comparison.
It’s just amazing how good you can feel when you don’t eat a ‘trigger food’ and how easily and fast that can change when I eat a few peppers or carrots, or my latest discovery — potato skin.
Anyway, you have my sympathies, OP. This shit SUCKS.
mmmm, more gluten for me…
🙂
http://www.nysun.com/pics/2833.jpg
If it’s going to make you ‘sick for a week’ (which may very well be the case, the quotes were for you, not sarcasm) then there is NO reason you shouldn’t be contacting authorities for false advertising.
don’t just bitch… refuse to put up with that shit.
I have a friend/co-worker who is a celiac and she eats our food all the time (though she’s been doing better lately). None of our stuff is gluten-free! At all.
That being said, if you can’t eat something gluten-free, don’t go looking for snacks at Second Gulp. 😉
Related funny story: I work with a boy who, God bless his heart, he’s nice… but a little, uh, slow. When a customer asked once if we had any gluten-free snacks, his response was, “No, but we have gluten-free milk!” Yeah… lol.
Trust me Bro Tim, you need a LOT of educating about a LOT of things.
You just don’t realize it.
http://www.demotivation.us/media/demotivat…
NGF nominates Comonadante for Post of the Year.
I’m with you O.P. I’m a celiac as well, and there’s nothing worse than enjoying a good meal to later find out you’ve unknowingly cheated on your diet. While I only experience symptoms for 2 or 3 days at most, it elevates my mental illness to the point where I become suicidal for those few days. Not fun in the least.
If you work in food service, and don’t know for sure whether you offer a particular dietary option, then admit it and recommend a customer eat something else or go elsewhere. By this point in our history, every establishment should know (mind you, wait staff can’t be expected to memorize it, but there should be a written list) which dishes contain which of the most common allergens: soy, gluten, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, sulphates, etc… For many people, it is a case of life or death.
CE that was such a deep comment. LOL.
John I loves ya.
BT: OP is bitching about people who are offering certain types of food. They’re not saying everyone needs to be educated, just people who offer certain types of food because it can have serious consequences for them.
I don’t expect people to educate themselves about my health issues, but when someone, for example offers something that claims to be friendly towards a certain health disorder I may have, they should know what they’re talking about.
As a sidenote: the fastest way to shut someone up from their unwelcome rants about how eating white bread or decaffeinated beverages or artificial sweeteners is to yell at them “I HAVE CROHN’S” or “I’M DIABETIC”… I was at the airport in hfx last month and ordered a decaffeinated latte from sbux at the gates and the bitch working there went on about how awful it is to drink that because it’s a chemical process the coffee goes through and how she’d never do it, blahblah. SO I told her, in detail what happens when I drink caffeine (it ain’t pretty). That shut her the fuck up. One time, I was at a bachelorette party supper and the groom’s mother actually told me that I’d ‘lose weight’ if I “ate the whole grain roll instead of the white one.” When I told her I had an intestinal disorder and a whole grain roll would put me in bed for a week she turned bright red and stfu. And I can’t tell you how many people (random people I don’t know at that!) bitch at me for consuming artificial sweetener! Most times they shut their fucking mouthes when I look them straight in the eye and proclaim “I’m diabetic!” with somewhat of an attitude. If I want your advice or input, I’ll ask for it, thanks.
People need to be minding their own business, and from now on those who don’t’ll get the gory details in response to shut their smarmy mouths.
you go girl (pretteh kitteh). I’m sensitive to gluten myself so when I eat it I know I’ll have some issues. I have thankfully not suffering from Crohn’s or Celiac’s disease so I can get away with it occasionally. I avoid gluten when possible but some times I just need a burger AND a bun.
Moxie’s is super careful – if you tell them you have an issue, the shift manager comes over to discuss your options with you.
Thanks, FG!
Moxie’s… where’s that? Dartmouth Crossing?
There’s also a place at the bayers road shopping centre (village at bayers road or whatever the fuck it is now — I remember when it was an actual mall ffs… but I digress) that is quite ‘mindful’ of its food offerings. They’ll do everything they can to find out answers for you regarding questions about what’s in their products.
The staff is SUPER friendly and their food is SUPER yummy!!!
PK, I understand that the OP was bitching about a Glutin free advertised place that wasn’t. On that a valid bitch.
I was responding to CE who stated EVERYBODY needs to be educated about it. If it is not a part of your life, one doesn’t need to be educated about it. If I am cooking for guests I would expect them to inform me about allergies or dietary needs beforehand. I am not going to cook on the assumption that everyone is allergic to everything and I do not read minds.
Bro Tim said:
“I was responding to CE who stated EVERYBODY needs to be educated about it.”
Watch closely. Now I am going to quote myself:
“More people need to be educated about celiac disease and the effects of gluten.”
I think more people do need to be educated about celiac disease, particularly those who work in the many facets of the food industry.
Bro Tim, I think you just need to read more closely and not react so quickly.
Besides, if average Joes like you knew more about these kinds of things, you might have a more intelligent reaction if, say, the government wanted to pass a labeling law or extend coverage for treatments or things like that.
I worked for some small businesses that serve food and they claim things to be gluten free – I get very upset about this since they don’t understand why that matters. Food intolerances and celiac disease can actually cause DAMAGE to the intestines and cause the person to lose digestive functionality or develop cancer. It doesn’t just make a person feel tired, nauseated, or get a stomach ache like an allergy, it actually causes damage. It’s like a slow poison, metaphorically. So yes, people SHOULD be educated about it, especially if they’re gonna claim they have gluten free food or eat with people with these issues.
Remeber when those who weren’t capable of tolerating the food & living conditions in the past just died.
The population wasn’t filled with millions of people to sick to work, alergic to anything you can imagine.
What is happening to the human race as a whole ?
Am I the only one noticing that the amount of people with asthma,diabeties & other food problems is EXPLODING…
Is it perhaps the garbage….I mean food we are consuming ?
is the fast food, pre pared food, salted to death harming us ?!??
I personally believe that is a large part of it. Too much factory food, too much ‘fast food’ aka garbage.
Everyone eating copious amounts of salt & sugar. I had a triscut cracker a couple of days ago, I haven’t had one in years. I thought someone had played a joke on me…but no , this stuff was POISON it had so much salt on it , I spit it out.
I wonder why you don’t see more reporting on this ?
Mr. More,
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Our industrial food diet is responsible for many of the health problems that plague our modern society.
OP, besides bitching on here…..what actions did you take to protect others from eating at that establishment? Did you contact the owner/manager? Or have your lawyer contact them?
Wicked rebuttal CE.
Being one who has food sensitivities and allergies I completely understand.
I have a shellfish allergy – not all shellfish, just some. I was at a restaurant here in Hali a few years ago and wanted a certain dish that came with something I am allergic to. So I asked if I could have it subed out for something else. The server went to ask and came back with “the cook thinks he can do that”. Um…thinks? S/he either can or can’t. Maybe isn’t going to work. I explained this to her which she responded “I don’t see what the big deal is”…yeah, chickie, you’ll see the big deal when you either land me in the hospital or you kill me. Yes, I can order other dishes. However, in my experience, it isn’t usually a big issue to sub something out.
Food service establishments need to pay closer attention to specific requests and requirements. I understand they can’t accommodate every request out there. They, however, need to understand how something they see as minor can be detrimental to a patron’s health.
Hey, one celiac to another, try drinking beat, apple, carrot juice. It clears out 90% of the symptoms on 24 hours. Seriously. I didnt think I would ever find something to kill the deathbed symptoms but it really frigging works, and works well.