Local eateries get thumbs up from coelic sufferers
Coeliac sufferer Valerie Walker of Tindalls Beach had a serious reaction after eating a ’gluten free’ sandwich at an Orewa cafe recently.
Served with fries, salad and sauce only the bread was gluten free (GF), she found out later, with nothing cooked or prepared separately.
"It’s really false advertising for cafes to advertise GF options that coeliac suffers then have a reaction to," Kathy Torkington of Stanmore Bay says.
But they are thrilled at the new Silverdale Fresh Fish shop in Milner Ave. It has a good GF menu with the food handlers certified by Coeliac New Zealand. The entire shop is in the process of getting Gluten Free accreditation under Coeliacs’ Dining Out Programme and, along with Hell Pizza in Grey Lynn, will be the first in Auckland to get the accreditation.
About one percent of people suffer from auto-immune disease coeliac’s which can produce severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fatigue and lethargy from eating food containing gluten.
But gluten free "lifestylers", under the impression GF is good for them, are mixing GF and regular food in cafe´ s. This is confusing staff on how stringent GF food preparation needs to be for coeliac sufferers, Torkington says.
"In the last six months there is more of a take it or leave attitude with cafe staff who were happy to go out of their way for me before," she says."They think I’m just being picky now."
Though not accredited there are some local cafes that also understand how to prepare GF food properly, Torkington says.
Two Spoons on Wade Rd near the Plaza shopping centre, Hibiscus Cafe´ in Stanmore Bay and the Walnut Cafe´ in Orewa all get a nod.
Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats. From bread to soy sauce and beer it turns up in a surprising number of products.
While there are strict rules around producing gluten free products, that falls down when it comes to serving the food.
To stop gluten residue getting into their food coeliac sufferers need their food to be prepared separately. Separate utensils, cutting boards and surfaces untouched by other food, fresh pots and pans, and separate cooking oil. Even a toastie maker needs to be cleaned or be GF specific so it’s surfaces are free of residue from wheat bread.