GLUTEN-FREE DIETS Case Study
gluten-free options is just like having vegetarian and Halal dishes on the menu.
“Just as vegetarian options were once only for vegetarians, now it doesn’t matter, it’s just another option. That’s how we want to see gluten-free options,” Sleet remarks.
There are some complex issues that come into the equation, however, such as whether or not caterers are obliged to provide gluten-free options to children on Free School Meals. “This isn’t a choice, it’s a medical need,” Sleet argues, “and it does feel to some parents unfair that while schools may offer vegetarian and Halal options, for their child’s diet – which is not a choice – they can’t get that option.”
She adds that children with coeliac
disease can also feel excluded from their friends and lack self-esteem. “Being able to access school dinners in a normal way as all their friends would be a positive thing,” she suggests.
Indeed, this is something that Claire Wall is also keen to stress. “Giving all children the chance to share a good meal together is a really important part of school life,” she says, “so we always encourage
schools to make every
effort to cater for pupils with special dietary requirements.” She advises caterers to fi rst sit down with pupils and their families to fully understand the foods they can have and even get help from the school nurse. If adding another hot meal option
to the lunch menu or adapting existing dishes to gluten-free seems daunting,
options on their menus and give parents complete confi dence, this would be a great way to encourage even more children to try school meals and make sure menus work for the whole school,” says Claire Wall, senior nutritionist for the Children’s Food Trust. “We know that it’s perfectly possible to provide gluten-free options in commercial Sleet
kitchen environments,”
claims. However, while school caterers might have concerns about cross contamination – separate surfaces and utensils must be used and even fl our dust in the air can contaminate foods – Sleet stresses that there is no need to worry, as many schools already provide gluten-free meals without knowing it. “We understand that caterers can fi nd
it diffi cult to see how they can deliver these options within the constraints of their environment,” she says. “But technically it’s possible and it’s perhaps not as diffi cult as you think it is. You may be providing those options in your school kitchen already, it’s just that you don’t recognise they’re gluten-free.” Indeed, Derick Martin, CEO of Innovate Services, highlights this is the case in their schools where Innovate is the catering provider. “There is already a wide choice of food available, many of which will be gluten-free, such as our self-service salad bars,” he says. “This is an area that our catering teams are monitoring, as well as our marketing
team from a signage and labelling point of view.”
It’s also not entirely down to caterers to make a separate gluten-free option; it is a “whole supply chain issue”, according to Sleet. “You need to have easy access to products that are suitable.” Some suppliers are doing their bit
to help the foodservice sector. Brakes, for example, lists its range of gluten- free products on the schools section of its website, including two types of bread products.
What many people who suffer from the disease argue is that offering
Coeliac UK online gluten-free catering training course – 25% off!
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Coeliac UK half day face to face catering training course – 25% off!
Book more than one person on a Coeliac UK face to face open course and receive a 25% discount, usually £130+VAT each. Open to EDUcatering readers during June and July. Simply quote this offer at the time of booking. Contact:
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For more information visit:
www.coeliac.org.uk/courses
there is help at hand. Coeliac UK has launched a new training programme for caterers – which can be completed online or face to face – to give greater confi dence in providing the right dishes. Schools can also get accredited with the gluten-free (GF) logo and NGCI, to reassure parents, staff and pupils that they can eat safely from the lunch menu.
There might be a long way to go before GF becomes a truly recognisable logo out of home, despite the fact that it
is the most common diet-related condition in the UK. But teamed with educating children about the condition, it will hopefully become an established practice in schools to put a GF option on the lunch menu just like a vegetarian or Halal meal.
June 2013 41
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