Jen SorensenThis week's comic: Highly selective health nuts
Michael BuschWhen gluten-free-as-a-fad-diet was big; I encountered people who would say things like "I am gluten-free except for pizza".
Then I would have to explain to them that that is not how it works for those of us with celiac.
Queer Like The Slur@michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr when I was a child my family kept a gluten free kitchen and always took gluten free stuff to local events.
We would constantly have people saying "I'll have the gluten free one, I'm trying to lose weight/it's healthy" and pick up one gluten free cake to go with their otherwise normal meal.
The cake would always be mostly butter and sugar.
In the late 90s there was a pervasive belief in australia that you could get healthy by putting a blob of butter and sugar with your meal. As long as the butter/sugar blob contains no gluten (your meal can have gluten though).
AI6YR Ben
Pomegranate_Stew@coolandnormal @michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr
This was the one nice thing about the fad. We have friends whose kids have celiac disease and it made it a lot easier for us to bring things they could eat to school group get togethers. It always made the kids really happy to have treats/food that they could eat.
@pomegranate_stew @michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr yeah this was actually really handy. Before the fad, nothing was labelled gluten free unless it was a special version of a product that's normally wheat based. With other products you'd just have to read all the ingredients and know all the codes for all the E-numbers with gluten in them (mostly thickeners and texture agents, but also some flavours and colours).
But then when the fad hit, companies realised they could make [something]-free a selling point instead of treating it like the weird obscure special needs option.
@coolandnormal @michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr
Oh definitely. We had to buy a specific brand of vanilla, because some were not safe for them.
I got good at reading labels when one of our kids had a milk allergy* as an infant, but gluten was even sneakier.
*fortunately grew out of it, but is still lactose intolerant.
Climate Jenny 2.1@michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr This reminds me of the candies (Twizzlers?) that proudly announce on the label that they are fat-free.
@ClimateJenny @jensorensen @ai6yr
"grain free" on desserts has been an interesting one lately.
Celeste Ryder 🐾 🐀🏳️🌈@ClimateJenny @michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr but that one actually is useful. Cats are obligate carnivores yet lots of cat food contain mostly grains. That’s bad for cats. Grain-free in that case actually is a useful and desirable label.
me_valentijn@michael_w_busch @jensorensen @ai6yr
Non-allergic and non-celiac inflammatory reactions aren't a new or imaginary thing. And with my recent onset of extreme lactose intolerance, I can appreciate the very weird locations in which unexpected foods can be found. Eg, milk-free bread is the exception, not the norm.
And as with lactose intolerance, I could imagine that someone who can't handle much gluten on a regular basis might opt to stomach the discomfort from time to time to indulge in a treat 🤷♀️