[Therese]

New thread time

Your last thread is Here

Here is a link with some information

http://www.coeliac.org.au/coeliac-disease/diagnosis.html

[brazen]

my favourite fact sheet is no longer on the coeliac website, but luckily is on another this is a great one for answering any questions:
http://www.theallergymenu.com/sites/defaul...20diagnosis.pdf

[Gonewiththewind:...]

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This post has been edited by mtilly: 15/05/2012, 10:35 PM

[brazen]

yummo! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes...ts/gluten-free/

[lizabeth]

Just want to say hello as I'll probably be checking this thread now and then for advice and support! My daughter (who is two and a half) has been diagnosed as having coeliac disease. She had no symptoms except for a slightly bloated tummy - we are very grateful to a friend who is a GP and suggested testing. Anyway, we have now been to the Dietician, and joined up the Coeliac Society. I have packets of food samples, and lots of reading material.

Feeling ok about it but don't really know how easy or hard it is going to be, for example at day care or when she goes to events/parties. Although she didn't have tummy symptoms previously, is she likely to now get sick if she accidentally eats some gluten? I'm also confused as to whether or not we need to get a second toaster. I read on forums that yes we do need to use a second toaster, but the Coeliac Society said that's not necessary. Advice please??

Thanks in advance.

[brazen]

welcome lizabeth i think rora was around the same age when she was dx too.

i found daycare great as we provided her food most of the time and the one that provided it was fabulous at getting it right. one daycare we spoke to refused to provide gluten free food (i know realise this is probably illegal) but also refused to give a discount if we provided it all!

parties we generally send along all her food - i used to try to match to what the other kids were having but even now at 6 she would rather have treats she likes than be like the other kids more and more parents will cater for her which is really nice

we have a second toaster and i'd rather not risk it given how simple it is to get a second one. we jsut have a cheapie from aldi and it's been great.

good luck!

[ephalant]

I have a question about ingredient lists (I really should know the answer by now, but..). I went to buy something recently and looking at the ingredients list it said modified corn starch, but in the allergy advice there was no mention of gluten or wheat. We don't buy anything with 'modified' in the ingredients, but with no warning in the allergy section below it threw me a little. We didn't end up getting it. Does this mean if it's not in the allergy advice it's gluten free and the modified corn starch is then gluten free?

One of the reasons I don't know is because I've always made everything pretty much from scratch, but am currently teaching ds who has coeliacs how to read the ingredients list for himself and told him to always check the allergy advice if in doubt (we're only at the beginning stages of him being independent with buying his own food). While I go by the addage of 'if in doubt, leave it out', ds is very literal and doesn't do that yet.

[ZombieMum]

Welcome to our little group, lizabeth. The diet is a steep learning curve, but it's pretty easy to do after a while.

For birthday parties, my DD will take her own food. Not only does this mean she has something to eat that she likes, it also means she's less likely to get sick - we rarely trust other people's cooking, plus we've found that even if they've gone to the trouble to make the food gluten free, they stuff it up when they serve the food - ie they have it on the same plate as gluten food!
I tend to stick to little packets - like chips, fruit tails(like a snake lolly), as the packets are another way to help reduce cross contamination. (other kids like to sticky beak at what's in her container.)

I also tend to 'guard' her container if I am with her - as sometimes some 'helpful' people have taken her food out to place with the gluten food. When I've sent her off without me, I make sure her container is labelled clearly, and also have something like 'Keep separate to avoid cross contamination' and I will chat to the host.

I'm not sure I could help you with creche as my DD was diagnosed at the end of her kinder year, so I was preparing all her food. I'd be meeting with the Director, room leader and chef to discuss it. They need to understand about cross contamination as well as reading labels.

I've learnt to identify who I can trust with cooking for my DD3. Some people I could never trust - because their knowledge and willingness is lacking.
Eg if someone isn't willing to show me the packets of the ingredients - then I won't trust them - if they can't understand the need for me to read and check, then they just 'don't get it'.

If I am discussing the ingredients with someone, and they don't understand some basic products can contain gluten, then I can't trust them. Eg I've asked someone about the ingredients in a soup, and they bluntly replied that it was just soup and that it wouldn't contain gluten - I then mentioned that the stock they used could contain gluten - and they looked at me like I was an idiot - they just believed stock is gluten free, so because they were rude to me (basically I felt like they were laughing at me for asking a stupid question), then I knew I could never trust them, nor educate them.

My DD became more sensitive to gluten as time went by. You'll have to wait and see if it affects her or not. There's an upside of being so sensitive - the child sticks to the diet.


ephalant, if it didn't have:
modified corn starch (wheat)

or 'contains wheat/gluten'

then it should be fine.

I know how hard it is to trust the labelling. I've emailed some manufacturers to query their product labelling - and with the ones that don't get back to me, I assume they've stuffed up.
eg I point out that they have other similar products that mention it's gluten free, so can I assume their other product isn't gluten free as it doesn't have that claim,
or
some products have 'contains no soy, egg, nuts' - yet there is no obvious gluten or wheat - so I ask if it's gluten free because they don't have that in their statement, which you'd think they would.

Do you remember what product and brand it was? I am sure one of us here could tell you if it's safe or not.

[ephalant]

Thanks ZombieMum. The ingredients had modified corn starch, but no mention of wheat/gluten anywhere. I didn't get it because I wasn't sure and since I rarely buy prepackaged food like that (and it was something we haven't bought before at all) I left it and wanted to check. What would it be modified with? I can't remember brand name either, but will check next time and maybe contact the company too. It was an instant pudding, which I didn't expect to be gluten free but thought I'd check anyway.

[brazen]

corn starch would be gluten free unless it stated 'wheat'