Food Allergies

Maybe its because it is April, but I fear that many people are making light of a real problem that affects more of the population than you may care to realise.

In yesterday's Daily Telegraph they published 'gluten free recipes' as if making a risotto with rice was a new idea, or that rice ever did contain gluten in the first place.  It is starch that washes off rice when cooked - not gluten.  The theme continued using normal everyday ingredients - so why the issue?

Everyone with any form of food allergy knows how to avoid those foods that give them the problem.  Like millions of others, I am allergic to nickel.  It is found in tea, legumous vegetables, tomatoes, onions, pears, brown rice, cereals, and absolutely anything preserved in a tin - shall I go on or do you get the picture?

The problem is getting other people to understand that your "diet" is not dangerous for you, and adding just a little bit of the forbidden foods could cause serious complications.  In my case it is just a very nasty excema, but for others the practice of 'just try one Brussels sprout' could kill.

So my plea for the day is please, get to understand what it is that affects your friends and family, learn to prepare meals that are safe for them, and stop trying to make them eat something that perceived wisdom says is good for you - like crusty brown bread and salad!