Kilmarnock woman fears too many restaurants mislabeling gluten free meals

There are concerns restaurants across Ayrshire are mislabeling dishes as gluten free when they are in fact contaminated by other food.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. It is when body’s immune system attacks its own tissues when it has gluten. This damages the lining of the gut.

The condition is not a food allergy and can cause serious health implications if left undiagnosed.

Andrea Little, 47, from Kilmarnock is Coeliac and reacts to even the smallest trace of gluten.

She says often she orders food in restaurants, stated as being gluten free, but then discovers it has been prepared and cooked alongside other dishes on the menu which contain gluten.

Andrea says, "In the house, I'm absolutely fine. It's when you're eating out that you begin to feel a bit of a nuisance and you start avoiding places.

"When you ask, for example fish and chips, is it cooked in its own fryer? You are then told no it's cooked with everything else. That doesn't make it gluten free.

"Food that is cooked with gluten can cause a reaction. I find that the only reason places advertise meals as being gluten free is to keep on trend with fad diets. People think not eating gluten will help them lose weight but it really doesn't.

"I don't think restaurants can advertise as gluten free. They should say 'not Coeliac safe.' You can get accreditation from Coeliac UK and those are the kind of restaurants I normally seek out."

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