- Contact the restaurant in advance
Phoning ahead can give you chance to speak to the restaurant in a calmer environment. For those that don’t feel confident enough to speak on the phone, most restaurants are on social media these days and will be more than happy to help provide allergen information. - Avoid busy times
Now this one can’t always be helped but if the restaurant staff are rushed off their feet, mistakes can be made that could lead you to feel very poorly for a days, if not weeks whilst you recover from accidental ingestion of gluten. - Keep it simple
Go back to basics, rice, salad and potatoes are all naturally gluten free. Try to pick your meals with these as your base and you’re going to bring your risk down massively. If any part of your meal requires frying, make sure you ask the restaurant if they have a separate fryer for gluten free food. - Condiments
About to reach for your favourite barbecue sauce? Stop and read the labels first! This is a really easy way to accidentally ingest gluten. Wheat and Barley are ingredients often found in sauces. - Check, check and check again!
This one is probably the most difficult for the socially awkward people among us…
You’ve phoned ahead to see if they can accommodate gluten free customers, you’ve gone through war and peace putting your order through and the server finally brings out that big, cheesy, pepperoni pizza you’ve been dreaming about since last week and now you’ve got my voice in your head telling you to check again? You’ll thank me later.
It’s quite surprising how easy it is to wind up with gluten in front of you, anything as simple as your request for the gluten free version not making its way to the chef or your server picking up the wrong plate at the pass. Mistakes can happen but it shouldn’t be at the expense of your health.
The Social Coeliac 