Gluten Free Products Gluten Free Products are the lifeline for Celiacs who need to live gluten free and avoid gluten in their regular diet. Gluten is a protein present in some common grains such as wheat, oats and rye and it is also frequently hidden in elements of pre-processed foods. In previous years gluten free products were hard to find. The diagnosis of people with coeliac condition and intollerance of gluten was hit and miss. It appeared that the medical community were not familiar with coeliac condition and frequently misdiagnosed the condition as irritable bowel syndrome or just an upset stomach. As a result few people were 'labelled' as Celiacs and hence there was no perceived market demand for gluten free products. In the last decade and awareness of the coeliac condition has increased greatly, probably through the arrival of coeliac support groups and increased lobbying. With increased awareness has come increased diagnosis and as a result the percentage of people in the population diagnosed with the condition and needing to live gluten free has increased significantly. This has created a ready-made market for manufacturers who wished to create and sell gluten free products at normal, high street prices. The latter point is important as previously gluten free products came at a premium price for a minority niche market. Now, most supermarkets carry extensive ranges of gluten free breads, biscuits, cakes and almost any other product you can think of at prices comparable with their gluten rich alternatives. Whilst the situation has vastly improved for Celiacs manufacturers can sometimes make life difficult with certain tricks they play. A coeliac and can never relax from reviewing the labels on products known to be gluten free as recipes and ingredients change. That nice cauliflower cheese preprocessed meal was completely gluten-free last week and, look out, it now contains some form of modified starch sneaking some gluten into your meal. The requirement to review labels is somewhat reduced with the permanent ranges of gluten free products produced at some supermarkets. These ranges are now labelled as gluten free and guaranteed to be so attracting a loyal band of coeliac shoppers. Progress has been so good that you can now often spot people who do not have coeliac condition and do not need to use gluten free products cruising the aisles and putting some of the gluten free confectionery in their baskets!

Gluten Free Tips #1 Advise the chief. When you go to a restaurant or when you go to a friends tell the chief that you are allergic to Gluten. Most will be very aware of the condition, it is covered in most culinary courses, and they will be only too happy to help you. Gluten intolerance is only one of a hundred food intolerance in modern society so catering for a guests food preferences is all part of the standard service for a modern restaurant. this.

Gluten Free Tips #2 Read the label. These days most manufacturers print the full list of food ingredients on the food packaging for the foods you buy in the shops. Read the ingredient and reject any food products that are not clear. There are many suppliers so reward the ones who try to help you.

Gluten Free Tips #3 Take restaurant cards on holiday. When you go on holiday to a place that speaks another language you do not want to trust to your rusty language skills to explain to the waitress that you are gluten intolerant. Take a foreign language prepared card outlining your condition. In this way you do not put the waitress under pressure, the details are clearly explained in the local language and the card can be passed direct to the chief avoiding any miscommunication.