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Coeliac Society

The COELIAC SOCIETY does some good work in the gluten-free / wheat-free business...

One of the COELIAC CONTACTS is the UK Coeliac society. They produce a book with a long list of items which are GLUTEN-FREE. One of the good things about the Coeliac Society UK is that anyone who has been diagnosed with coeliac disease in the UK is eligible to be a member of the club, regardless of whether they pay the membership fee, although they are generally pestered and cajoled into paying.

However, I have heard that coeliacs are under-represented among the people who run the Coeliac Society! It's my speculation that the Coeliac Society are a bit microsofty and tend to not have a first-hand grip on the practical problems, problems which actual coeliacs have to face up to when hunting around in supermarkets trying to find something edible!

Also, although the Directory of Coeliac Friendly Foods is useful, it is absurd to expect people to look up every item in the supermarket in the hopes it's gluten free. Proper food labelling is best! Some supermarkets are setting good examples in this.

One criticism of the Coeliac Society I have received goes like this: "Coeliac UK don't represent the UK Coeliacs, in fact only those diagnosed by biopsy and thus able to get prescriptions of Gluten Free specialist foods ...They don't represent 90% of coeliacs because they are undiagnosed.  They have no interest in them because they can't support their sponsors by getting GF prescriptions", and the writer (a coeliac themselves) went on to cite the sponsors of the society as a reason for the Coeliac Society's failure to promote PROPER LABELLING of non-prescription Gluten Free foods! I don't necessarily agree, but I think this viewpoint needs expressing to try to balance the publicity that's about. For sure, a true "coeliac society" should represent all coeliacs, and I agree that the Coeliac Society should campaign for proper labelling and for good practice generally!

Well Done to the Coeliac Society for updating their website to work on different browsers! AnyBrowser compatibility is good!

Phone: +44 (0) 1494 437278

Address: P.O. Box 220, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP11 2HY
or... Coeliac UK, Suites A-D, Octagon Court, High Wycombe, Bucks HP11 2HS

Website: www.coeliac.co.uk

One of the things about coeliac disease is that it was only discovered relatively recently (during the Second World War), and the research on it is ongoing. As time goes on, there are more discoveries, and there is more advancement, and things go on improving. My own view is that the UK Coeliac Society is improving, and is increasingly aware of the importance of campaigning to spread knowledge of coeliac disease. This is an international matter, and it's possible to see that almost all restaurant staff around the world know what a vegetarian is, but not so many have a clear concept about what a coeliac is. Manufacturers of food sometimes need to be educated about the true situation of coeliac disease. The UK Coeliac Society does a lot of good in this type of work, so Well Done to them!