There were late nights last autumn, when I set about trying to fully decipher upcoming changes to food allergen labelling laws, and what this would mean for consumers with food allergy, food intolerance and — especially — coeliac disease. Should gluten necessarily be mentioned in the ingredients when present? Is there any circumstance when you might see wheat unhighlighted? Where is a ‘contains’ statement still permitted? Answers: No, yes — and on bottles of booze. (As was I, through much of this period.)
I needed answers in order to complete an update of my book on coeliac disease, the earlier print runs of which had almost sold out, and which my publishers had decided could do with a fresh new look.
Hoping and assuming you’ll forgive the self-promotion, am happy to say that Coeliac Disease: What you need to know, the new edition, is published today, and to complement the extensively rewritten sections on labelling laws, I’ve added a lot of material on the food issues which tend to confuse those struggling to get to grips with the condition immediately following diagnosis — barley malt derivatives, GF and non-GF oats, glucose syrup, Codex wheat starch, spelt, and such like. Advice on eating out — and the new laws as they apply to food service — has also been added.
FODMAPs — which barely got a mention first time around — are given more emphasis in the new issue, as they may be involved in persistent symptoms among GFD-compliant patients. There’s also more on other food hypersensitivities, other gut disorders — and an updated section on the innovative research and future therapies which may lie ahead — vaccines, enzymes, drugs and the sometimes bizarre new developments in free from food.
I hope, if you buy it, that you find it practical and supportive. Am always happy to answer questions and also welcome feedback on how to improve any future edition — as one will no doubt be necessary should those darned labelling laws ever get revised once again …
Coeliac Disease: What you need to know is available from Amazon (UK) (£8.99), WHSmith (£6.29), Waterstones (£8.99), and Amazon (US) ($9.16).
It is also available as an Amazon Kindle edition.