fbpx

My Child with Coeliac Disease

 
A guest blog from one of our users whose son was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease last year.


I have been aware of Coeliac disease for most of my life as my Gran had it. She was diagnosed in her late 30s/early 40s, not long after the end of WW2. All that was available on prescription for her when I was little was tinned bread!
 
Things have moved on since then. My son first became ill almost two years ago. He had nose bleeds, vague stomach aches and occasional headaches. It was initially put down to stress. He eventually got to the point where he was exhausted and after blood tests we discovered he was anaemic. Our GP wanted to do further tests for Coeliac and Crohns disease (my Dad was diagnosed with Crohns when he was 13). His antibody test came back at over 1200. He then had an endoscopy to confirm diagnosis which showed no visible villae and that his stomach lining was so inflamed it was liable to ulcerate.
 
He has been Gluten Free for around 7 months now and is coping well considering his pre-diagnosis diet was mainly pizza, pasta, and fajitas. He doesn’t eat at school because, although they are very knowledgeable and accommodating, he has to queue in a busy canteen instead of at the “quick serve” take-away bar and they take longer to serve him as they need to change their gloves etc. The range of suitable foods available is also limited unless he provides things like pizza bases himself. He is now cooking for himself at home and has his own utensils, oven trays, toaster and fryer.
 
He misses “real” pizza and going out with his friends is challenging as they want to eat at places with buffets but he can’t take the chance that he will be ‘glutened’ by cross contamination. However, his best friends’ sister was diagnosed as coeliac at the same time as him so they are very aware and another friend has a brother with dairy intolerance so he has some peer support there too.
 
We have only eaten out twice since his diagnosis and only where we can see his food being prepared because we have heard some horror stories such as some chefs thinking that gluten can be “killed” in a hot fryer! We have had a GF Chinese take-away though, which he really enjoyed.
 
While there are lots of GF foods available it is not always easy finding them as the local stores have a very limited and inconsistent range. So, when we find something he likes we tend to stock up in case we can’t get it again.
It has been difficult to get to this point however he leaves school in two weeks to begin college and I am proud he has been able to do this despite his illness beginning at such a crucial time.
 
 
Have you got a similar story to share? Comment below to add your thoughts and subscribe to our mailing list for more information on how LiberEat can help you

LiberEat’s content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. You should always take precautions and use appropriate judgement to protect yourself and others under your care with regard to food allergies.

Food allergen rules and regulations continue to change and evolve. Food businesses in production, hospitality, catering, and retail must be vigilant when working with ingredients, products, and dishes containing allergens and exercise due diligence when providing ingredient and allergen information to consumers. Successful allergen management is a big part of food safety professionals’ creating a culture of care and excellence within their teams.

LiberEat offers a second line of defence for food businesses by detecting errors, allergens, and other harmful ingredients with our proprietary Allergen Error Detection Technology. Food businesses can apply this technology directly to identify errors in allergen communications, preventing the risk of injury to consumers 24/7, 365 days of the year so that errors are detected, diagnosed and rectified quickly. We know this helps you protect your brand reputation and enhance customer trust in your brand. 

Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your existing food safety processes.

To find out how LiberEat Technology supports food businesses to detect allergens and errors, to protect consumers