In their quest to understand more about coeliac disease, chefs regularly ask me questions about it and some of the issues that surround it and catering for it. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions:

1) How do you pronounce coeliac?

Coeliac is pronounced 'see-lee-ak'. Try not to confuse us with a celeraic! Believe it or not, it happens a lot!

2) What happens to a person when they have a gluten reaction?

A gluten reaction takes place once the offending food moves into a certain part of the bowel. This section of the bowel is quite a long way down so it may take between one and four hours before the reaction starts.

Everyone is different but there are generally two type of reactions. Some people get extreme diarrhoea for days and other people endure severe and painful bloating of the stomach and abdomen. The symptoms vary from person to person and can range from very mild to very severe.

In addition, different people have a range of tolerances to gluten. Some can tolerate very, very little gluten (below 20 parts per million, which is microscopic) and others can tolerate quite a lot more. All Delicious Alchemy products are guaranteed to contain under 20 parts per million gluten.

A reaction can also prevent the person from being able to absorb vitamins and minerals effectively, which can cause long term problems such as anaemia and osteoporosis.

The more reactions a person has, the worse their long term health will become. Therefore it is extremely important for coeliacs to have a completely gluten free diet.

For a more details on the condition have a look here. 

3) What is the difference between a customer with a wheat intolerance and a customer with coeliac disease?

Coeliac disease is a genetic condition occuring in one in a hundred people. People with coeliac disease cannot digest the protein gluten which is present in many grains (see Gluten Free Ingredient Reference Guide for a list of grains that are naturally gluten free and all of those which contain gluten).

A wheat intolerance is an adverse reaction to wheat and no other grain. It commonly causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which can result in similar symptoms to coeliac disease, such as bloating, wind, weight gain and many others.

There are many more people with a wheat intolerance than with coeliac disease. Often, people with wheat intolerances are not very sure about what they have problems eating and what they can tolerate.

This is because they cannot get a formal diagnosis from a GP and therefore they are not getting any formal support for their problem. Wheat and gluten free products (like those in our range) are suitable for both types of customer.

The general confusion about wheat intolerance and coeliac disease is why, when you discuss it with customers, you will come across a very wide variety of symptoms and range of tolerances to gluten and wheat.

4) What's this about the gluten free standards changing next year?

At the moment, a food product can be called 'gluten free' even if it contains as much as 200 parts per million of gluten. Some people have a reaction from this amount of gluten so in 2012 the legal levels are coming down to 20 parts per million.

The foods that remain at 200ppm gluten will no longer be allowed to call themselves 'gluten free' they will have to become 'low gluten' or 'gluten reduced'.

Delicious Alchemy food is always below 20 parts per million so you don't need to worry about this change when buying our range.

5) What is Codex Wheat Starch and is it OK to use products containing it?

Codex Wheat Starch is a starch which has reduced gluten. It is created by washing normal wheat 20 times in clean water each time. This removes much of the gluten. However, it still contains wheat, which many people are allergic to.

If you want to stock one product that meets all wheat/gluten free customer requirements, the safest option is only to buy gluten free foods which are created from naturally gluten free grains like rice flour, tapioca, maize, etc.

All Delicious Alchemy products are made from naturally gluten free grains.

6) How come when I serve a gluten free cake for dessert, some coeliacs don't eat it? I would have thought they'd have loved it.

Most coeliacs do LOVE getting a cake for dessert. It makes a delightful change to the usual, boring fruit salad that is served. However, there is a cross over between diabetes and coeliac disease so some people can't eat sugary desserts.

If you are planning on serving a dessert, it's worth checking with a visiting coeliac whether they have any other conditions such as diabetes. If they do, they might enjoy the fruit salad!

7) What is the best way to cook gluten free pasta?

Gluten free pasta does not need very much cooking time at all. It needs much less time than ordinary pasta. Usually between 8-12 minutes is ideal. However, there is a very short time period between gluten free pasta being undercooked and over cooked. Sometimes this can be as short as 30 seconds so when the pasta is nearly done, test it every half minute until it is there.