Revisiting Hastings Pier

We recently visited Hastings for the first time since 2015 and it was great to have a walk on the new pier. We'd only ever been on it once before back in 2008.

We were really impressed with what has been built following the fire which almost totally destroyed it in 2010.

A view of the new pier from White Rock Gardens

The end of the pier is a nice wide-open space. We've visited a lot of piers on our travels and Hastings Pier is certainly different to most

A pair of Minions on the pier

We visited the pier just after the Hastings Pier Yarn Bomb had opened!

There was a lot of knitted bunting

Having a nice sit down next to a mermaid

  

A knitted beach hut

The knitting got almost everywhere

One of the un-yarn bombed benches at the end of the pier

While we were on the pier on Sunday we spotted an ice cream cart going round offering free knitted ice creams! They were gluten free to boot

Enjoying my knitted Ice Cream alongside Hastings character John 'Big Top Ted' McIver

Visit the Hastings Pier website for more information.

New Free From range at Morrisons

Morrisons launches new Free From products.

Towards the end of last month Morrisons expanded its range of Free From products and the news sent ripples of excitement through the Coeliac and Gluten Free communities. I was particularly excited to hear that there were going to be new Curly Fries in the range, along with a number of other sweet and savoury treats.

The Curly Fries and Mini Hash Browns are only £1 a bag. Bargain

The updated branding, word of mouth buzz and excitement and the promise of new gluten and wheat free products at Morrisons means I've been spending a lot more time (and money) at my local store in Cheadle Heath. Much of the last two weeks has been spent keeping an eye out for the Curly Fries and Hash Browns. Luckily I managed to track some down on my dinner break today. I know what I'll be having for tea tonight!

The freezer section has a number of new Free From products

Looking in the Free From section I noticed a number of other gluten free products from brands outside of the Morrisons own-brand range, which is great to see.

A selection of the new gluten free cereals in the Free From section at Morrisons

Last year Morrisons expanded the range of Free From products available in store and so it's brilliant they are continuing to provide products that are safe and suitable for people with allergies, intolerances and autoimmune diseases (such as Coeliac Disease).

Check out the Morrisons website for details of their Free From range.

Related blog posts:
- Morrisons
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac

Link:
- Morrisons

Ten years of The Ham & Egger Files

Today marks the tenth anniversary of The Ham & Egger Files blog.

On the 21st December 2006 I wrote the first post introducing the blog and outlining my participation in many obscure and minority sports with the aim of having as much fun as possible with the modicum of sporting ability I have! The second post was about Finger Jousting.

I've had a lot of FUN blogging over the last ten years

Since then the 2,381 posts I've written have received 1.1 million page views from people in 110 countries.

Our travels have taken Emily and I to twelve countries, 500+ places in the UK, 220+ seasides and 719 miniature golf courses.

While many of my blog posts have been about Crazy Golf and Minigolf, I've also blogged about Coeliac Disease and living on a lifelong gluten free diet, travel, social history and a lot of other sports and games.

Related blog posts:
- My most viewed blog post - Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Sports and Games played

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100% gluten free places in the UK

There are 100% gluten free places to eat in the UK.

As someone living with Coeliac Disease I am extremely careful about what I eat and drink. Since I was diagnosed in 2008 I haven't knowlingly consumed anything containing gluten. However, I have been 'glutened' while dining out and the effects can be horrific and long lasting. So, I'm always looking for safe and suitable 100% gluten free places to eat at while travelling around the UK.

Before diagnosis I was a very adventurous diner and willing to try all manner of food and drink. Emily and I would enjoy visiting lots of different restaurants and takeaways. Nowadays Emily either dines while I watch, or has to wait to visit a place with friends or family to give it a try.

An incredibly rare sighting of us both dining out at the same time

At one of our last meals out together - way back in May - I was glutened. Since then dining out together has been very limited. While dining at home is safe and we do cook up some magnificent food (and great cocktails), we do miss having the whole meal experience. I am now looking to eat at places that are 100% gluten free and safe for Coeliacs. If it's not, I'll vote with my wallet and go elsewhere (or go hungry).

With my approach to tackling the problem of dining out safely I was incredibly pleased when fellow Coeliac and writer Caroline at the Coeliac Plate website let me know about a series of lists she has put together detailing the 100% gluten free places in the UK! It's absolutely marvellous to see.

One of my favourite places to eat is at 2 Oxford Place in Leeds. The fact that the restaurant is 100% gluten free and safe for Coeliacs is a real weight off the mind. To be able to visit a restaurant and not be on edge from the start is great. On the occasions I've dined there it's been brilliant. Just little things like NOT having to explain to the waiting staff that I have a medical condition before ordering, or asking to see a 'special' menu, makes a BIG difference.

When dining in a 'normal' restaurant that is trying to offer gluten free options cross contamination is possible. If eating there I can spend the whole time worrying about what could've happened to the meal I'm about to eat/am eating/have eaten. It doesn't make for a very pleasant or 'normal' experience and can often feel like the money has been wasted.

So do check out the Coeliac Plate website for more information and the links below for the 100% gluten free lists.

- UK 100% gluten free venues
- UK 100% gluten free – Northern England

Caroline tweeted me about her lists after I'd posted a tweet to fellow gluten free blogger Katie Bucknell asking about gluten free places in Manchester. Katie provided some good tips. Check out her website too.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten free
- Coeliac

Links:
- The Coeliac Plate website
- Katie Bucknell's website

Happy Halloween 2016

Ah, Halloween. The one day of the year when being a Coeliac Disease victim pays dividends. I'll never tire of 'dressing up' as Patient Zero. What a costume.

Not brown bread yet

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Coeliac Disease
- Gluten - my Kryptonite
- What a perfect Crazy Golf obstacle for a Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

What a perfect Crazy Golf obstacle for a Coeliac

As a Coeliac Crazy Golfer was there a better obstacle for me to find on our visit to the Funder Park Adventure Golf course in Dawlish Warren, Devon than this!

Another funny thing about being a Coeliac

We can't believe it's been almost a year since our road trip around the South West of England! The Adventure Golf course at Dawlish Warren was the 15th visited on the trip, the 367th played, and 614th visited overall on our tour.

Related blog posts:
- Adventure Golf in Dawlish Warren
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Gullon (sin gluten) gluten free biscuits and crackers

While at Hitchin Market this morning we spotted these big boxes of gluten free biscuits and crackers on one of the food stalls!

I've bought the chocolate cookies before (they're very scoffable), but I've never seen the Sharkies biscuits or the crackers. Brilliant stuff.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Sin Gluten
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Links:
- Gullon
- Coeliac UK

Hurrah for sensible price reductions

Spotting some gluten free bargains.

I've always had an eye for a bargain. This has been honed even more so in the eight years since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.

Shopping for gluten and wheat free food is a hassle at the best of times - not to mention the trouble with gluten free prescriptions - and one of my bugbears is the fact that most supermarkets reduce the price of their free from food incrementally, rather than sensibly! This means that the best you can often hope for is to pay about £1.50 for an item near its sell by / use by date, rather than £2 to £3. It's a rare thing indeed to find gluten and wheat free goodies for mere pence.

That was until I found this great haul in Morrisons this evening.

Over ten quids worth of gluten and wheat free food - for just £1.16. Lovely stuff

There were also some bagels and another loaf of artisan bread in the reduced section, but I'm not greedy so left them for some other poor Coeliac to pick up.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Link:
- Coeliac UK

Expanded free from range at Morrisons

Great to see more gluten free products in the Morrisons free from range.

As someone with Coeliac Disease I'm always on the hunt for new and interesting gluten and wheat free food and drink. So I was very pleased to see that Morrisons have really gone to town on their expanded range of Free From products.

Look at that, just look at that. What a sight. What a delight

Yowzers! There are plenty of pie options in the fridge at Morrisons in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. This time I bought a very nice No-G Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie for my dinner, and a Lemon Pie for Emily to try. I had a nibble to and it was marvellous. I've also got a Morello Cherry and Chocolate Tart in the fridge. We've also tried some of the products in the Great Food range before and they are very good too. We'll have to try the Pure products in the future

There is also some new gluten and wheat free bread from Newburn Bakehouse now in stock at Morrisons, including a sourdough loaf

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Links:
- Morrisons
- No-G
- Great Food
- Newburn Bakehouse

A gluten free burger in a gluten free brioche-style bun!

We're always on the lookout for new and interesting gluten free food and we made a great discovery at Waitrose in Lutterworth, Leicestershire at the weekend when we spotted the packs of brioche style buns made by Just: Gluten Free Bakery!

What a find!

For dinner tonight we cooked up some gluten free burgers from the Co-Operative and put them in the brioche buns. They were delicious.

A fine burger, topped with bacon and cheese and stuffed in a nice brioche style bun. The free from Onion Rings from Tesco were great too. Note the healthy items on the plate

Check out the links below for more info on Just: Gluten Free Bakery.

Links:
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery website
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Twitter
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Facebook

Related blog posts:

- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

The Chilli Shop in Leeds

While we were up in Leeds to watch some live PDC darts and Hal Cruttenden's stand-up tour we stumbled upon a great shop in the Merrion Shopping Centre.

We were making our way to the First Direct arena for the kick-off of the 2016 PDC Premier League of darts and spotted the Chilli Shop. And what a marvellous shop it is too.

Our haul from the Chilli Shop in Leeds. The flyers for the shop also contain a version of the Scoville scale - a 'Survival Guide' to the hottest things on the planet!

As well as 50 free tasters of the world's best chillies there was all manner of other merchandise and snacks to buy.

Two things caught my eye - the first was 'The Museum of Pain'. This exhibits the hottest chillies in the world, some of which are a mind (and mouth) blowing two million plus on the Scoville scale! As a curator of The Crazy Golf Museum it was great to see the owner of the shop, Frank Jay, has taken the time and effort to display the array of chillies, trinkets, objects and info.

The Museum of Pain - it contains the world's hottest Easter Egg!

The second thing that caught my eye was the Chilli Challenge of the 'Hunger Games' where you got to play some darts, but with the caveat that if you didn't hit the bullseye to win the star prize (a bag of the world's hottest peanuts) you had to do a forfeit.

Darts, with a difference

I stepped up and scored a dismal amount that doesn't need to be recorded here. Needless to say that Emily was brave enough and stepped up to take my forfeit of a spoonful of a Chilli and Garlic condiment. I was more fearful of trying it due to cross contamination with all the gluten knocking around from the crackers used for tasters. For once, Coeliac Disease came to my aid!

We did return to the shop the next day and tasted a few other items and picked up some nice bottles of sauce, including the condiment which has a nice kick to it. We also bought a Goan Curry Sauce that is gluten free.

The Chilli Shop is well worth a visit if you're in Leeds. Do check out the Chilli Shop website for more info and details on how to order online.

Links:
- The Chilli Shop website
- The Chilli Shop on Facebook

- The Chilli Shop on Twitter

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Gluten free at 2 Oxford Place in Leeds

Dining out at 2 Oxford Place in Leeds.

2 Oxford Place gets the double-thumbs up from me

Ever since I heard that a 100% gluten free restaurant was opening in Leeds I had been excited to visit. Luckily we got to eat there on Friday. It was certainly well worth the wait.

The kitchen at The Oxford Place is totally gluten free so I was able to dine without fear of cross-contamination. And even better, I was able to order without having to explain I have Coeliac Disease. I haven't done that for well over six months and it's certainly not a regular occurrence!

Delicious food, great drinks, excellent service, 100% gluten free - 2 Oxford Place is brilliant

We'd arrived in Leeds on Thursday but unfortunately found ourselves at 2 Oxford Place between the afternoon and evening opening times.

With my hunger built and a great looking menu I really wanted to treat myself, so when we returned on Friday we went all out, and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich to start. I then had a huge portion of haddock, chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce for my main course.

One of my favourite meals. And something I don't get to eat all that often

Even though we were quite full of delicious food and drink (we opted for Prossecco, wine and cocktails - although there are gluten free beers available) we had to treat ourselves to dessert. And what a dessert it was!

Look at that Assiette!

The last time we'd had a meal out together in a 100% gluten free restaurant was at The Galley in Plymouth in June last year. On that occasion we were blown away by the dessert. And the dessert we were served at 2 Oxford Place over six months later amazed us again. The Assiette of Puddings to share at 2 Oxford Place included crème brulee, chocolate brownie, cake truffles, and mini pavlovas.

We're still eating some of the dessert after having had to take it away!

We really enjoyed the whole experience of eating at 2 Oxford Place. The food, service and venue are all brilliant and we would definitely eat there again.

Check out the The Oxford Place website for further details, menus and opening times.

Links:
- The Oxford Place website

Related blog posts:
- Gluten free
- Coeliac

Happy Easter

The first Free From Easter Eggs of the season have made an appearance.

While doing a little bit of a top-up shop on New Year's Eve I spotted that Sainsbury's are very well stocked on Easter Eggs already!

If you're quick you can also pick up a box of gluten free Mince Pies for 70p and Nakd Christmas Pud bars for 25p

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Links:
- Sainsbury's website
- Sainsbury's Free From

Gluten free at Honest Burgers in London

A great meal out at Honest Burgers on Pentonville Road.

Even though I have Coeliac Disease I do enjoy eating foods. While living on a strict gluten free diet can be hard going at times I find that I am able to eat a varied diet, albeit mostly on shop bought and made from scratch meals. Not necessarily a bad thing.

What I do miss, and something that impacts on Emily, is the ability to dine out easily. There are so few places offering gluten free meals that are safe and suitable for people with Coeliac Disease.

That's why until yesterday evening the last time I'd eaten a meal outside of my flat was on the 21st September. Almost three months ago!

I've had Coeliac Disease since 2008 and I'm still adventurous in my eating habits, so it's really disappointing that we've not been able to find anywhere suitable to have a breakfast, lunch or dinner on our travels.

So, it was brilliant that last night I got to go out for a meal with Emily and my brother Christopher.

The last place I'd dined out was Honest Burgers on Pentonville Road in London when Emily and I had an Oktoberfest Burger for lunch on Miniature Golf Day. And we returned to try the new special burger on the menu - the XMAS BURGER.

A proper Christmas dinner. Don't forget the beer

It was delicious.

And filling.

Especially when you factor in the tasty Rosemary Fries that come with each burger.

Plus the sides we ordered too - coleslaw, salad, two portions of onion rings (they are massive) and a portion of chicken wings. It was a real feast, served by knowledgeable staff in a nice venue and location.

The Christmas Special Burger consists of a beef burger, smoked bacon, deep fried brie (it's breaded in gluten free crumb and poppy seeds and deep fried in clean oil), cranberry sauce and rocket.

It was honestly a very tasty burger. I love the theming the team at Honest Burgers add to their specials too

We ordered so much food I had the meat sweats, not helped by the very insulating Christmas jumper I was wearing. In fact I had to strip down to my t-shirt in order to finish the food. It was nice to be full and bloated by excess, rather than the discomfort, pain and illness caused by eating gluten!

The only gripe I have about Honest Burgers is that they charge you an extra £1 to get a gluten free bun. A small price to pay I suppose to ensure that you don't get cross-contaminated, but still a tax of sorts on those afflicted by Coeliac Disease.

Apart from that I cannot wait for my next meal out. Let's hope it's not another three months until I feel safe enough to venture out for some food.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- A gluten free meal at Honest Burgers in London

Links:
- Honest Burgers website
- Honest Burgers on Twitter
- Honest Burgers on Facebook

New look from Green's Gluten Free Beer

A gluten free beer update from Green's.

I haven't blogged about gluten free stuff for a little while - it's not been intentional, but life as a busy coeliac hasn't left me with much time of late. And it's not like my Coeliac Disease is going away any time soon so there'll be plenty of time for me to post on one of my favourite subjects.

The prompt for this blog post was the receipt of a box of gluten free beer from Green's! It was a very pleasant surprise. I'm looking forward to drinking them over the Christmas period.

The Green's range - visit the Green's website for more info on the eight gluten free beers

I've tried the beers before and at the first Herts & Beds Coeliac Food Fayre I attended I enjoyed sampling the wide-range Green's produce. It's always nice to have a choice.

Green's tell me they'll be closed over the Christmas break, but if you're in need of a fix of some more booze over the festive season you can still get hold of bottles at Ocado, Sainsbury's and Pizza Express.

Check out the Green's website for more info. You can buy the full range of Green's gluten free beers in their online shop.

I've blogged about gluten free beer, ale and lager a fair bit before (I am a fan of a tipple) - and a few years ago I got some of Green's beer flavoured mustard! Check out the links below for more gluten free related blog posts.

Links:
- Green's website
- Green's online shop
- Green's on Twitter
- Green's on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Gluten free
- Coeliac
- Gluten free beer

Schär gluten free

There are many funny things about being a Coeliac, not least being called a 'Celery', 'Celeriac' or even a 'Solero'.

When I checked my post this morning I didn't expect to be given a new first name on a mailer from Schär Gluten Free!?

I'm used to having a wide range of spellings for my surname - but 'Richard' is normally straightforward

I know I'm good at making up Italian sounding words for foodstuffs, but 'Riamo' takes the biscuit.

Schär used to be known as DS Gluten Free and I've been buying their products since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in 2008. At the recent Beds & Mid Herts Coeliac Group Food Fair I added my name to the Schar UK mailing list - my handwriting must've been terrible.

The offending mailer and some of the tasty Schar Milk Chocolate Nobbles that are currently residing in my cupboard

Find out more about Schar UK's products on their website. I'm a big fan of their Chocolate Fingers - I find it impossible to not eat a whole box at a time!

Related blog posts:
- Funny things about being a Coeliac
- Gluten free
- Coeliac
- Schar

Link:
- Schar UK website

Note:
- According to a quick search on the internet 'riamo' is a "first-person singular present indicative of 'riamare'". Riamare means 'to return the love of another' or 'to love again'.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter. You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Gluten free beer update

Earlier this week I spotted that Twitter had introduced a new Poll function, so immediately asked a question.

The result of the poll is this blog post - on a topic I haven't posted about in a little while.

The Beer Cave and Westerham Brewery Co

En route to Hastings for the recent World Crazy Golf Championships we made a stop in Tunbridge Wells and while having a wander to stretch out legs we spotted a chalkboard sign advertising the Beer Cave. We heeded the instructions and found ourselves in the underground beer shop.

A great bit of advertising

If I see an independent beer shop I'll always pop in on the off chance that I'll find a gluten free beer, ale or lager that I haven't seen or tried before

The Beer Cave

I was in luck on this occasion as the chap at the Beer Cave let me know about Scotney Pale Ale from the Westerham Brewery Co! I had to buy a bottle at the reasonable price of £2.80.

Scotney Pale Ale by the Westerham Brewery Co

Find out more about Westerham Brewery Co's range of gluten free beers on their website. They do a fair few.

Check out the Beer Cave website and if you're walking along the High Street do make sure you head down the alley for a look around.

Flatstick Pub

Another gluten free beer I've only recently heard about is from the Ghostfish Brewing Co based in Seattle, Washington, USA. It's served at the Flatstick Pub in Kirkland, Washington, a place that is on my must visit list!

The main four gluten free beers from the Ghostfish Brewing Co are:
- Grapefruit IPA
- Shrouded Summit Witbier
- Vanishing Point IPA
- Watchstander Stout

They also have Taproom Exclusives.

Not only does the Flatstick Pub serve gluten free beer, but they've also got a minigolf course and an array of pub games, two of which I'd never seen before - Duffleboard and Puttskee!

Gluten free beers around the world

With the addition of the Ghostfish Brewing Co beers I've now found out about 108 gluten free beers, ales, lagers, stouts, porters etc. since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in 2008. Check out the full list on my blog post here.

Links:
- The Beer Cave
- Westerham Brewery Co
- Flatstick Pub
- Ghostfish Brewing Co
- The Puttskee
- Coeliac UK

Related blog posts:
- Details of gluten free ale, beer and lager found since being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease
- Gluten Free Ales, Beers and Lagers
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens
- Pub Games

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter. You can also sign-up to receive our newsletter.

Celiac Awareness Day 2015

Celiac Awareness Day is on 13 September.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) is the group behind Celiac Awareness Day, taking place on Sunday 13 September.

Coeliac Disease (Celiac in the US and Canada) is a lifelong autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten and the only treatment is to adhere to a strict lifelong gluten free diet.

In the UK it's estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition, in the USA the figure is 1 in 133.

It's important to know and remember that Celiac/Coeliac is NOT an allergy, it's NOT a preference, it's NOT a fad, it's NOT a diet, it's NOT an intolerance, it's NOT a choice - it's an AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE.

I've been a Coeliac (and a Celiac when in the US) since May 2008

Visit the Celiac Central website for more information on their work and Celiac Awareness Day.

Check out my blog post about Celiac Awareness Day 2014.

In the UK, Coeliac Awareness Week is taking place from 11 to 17 May. For more information check out the Coeliac UK website and the Awareness Week page. Last year I was Minigolfing gluten free in Margate during Coeliac Awareness Week.

Related blog posts:
- Read my Gluten Free Journey blog on the Udi's gluten free website
- Celiac Awareness Day 2014
- Coeliac UK Awareness Week 2014 and the Gluten-free guarantee
- Minigolfing gluten free in Margate
- What a Day, Week and Month! (2013)

- Awareness Week: Coeliac Facts from Udi's Gluten Free

- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Links:
- National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) / Celiac Central
- Coeliac UK

The London Allergy and Free From Show 2015

A review of the The London Allergy and Free From Show 2015.

On Friday 3rd July I travelled to Olympia for the London Allergy and Free From Show. Last year was my first time visiting the event and I was interested to see what new products would be on show.

I was pleased to see some new gluten and wheat free ice creams available. On our recent two-week holiday around the south west coast of England I had only managed to find suitable ice cream tubs in two places! Fingers crossed the ice creams from Sweet Rebellion and Jollyum get stocked in more places as they were very tasty.

The Jollyum Ice Creams were very nice

Earlier this year Emily visited Spain and brought me back some Sin Gluten goodies and so it was nice to see the team from Esgir at the show with their range of five gluten and wheat free products that are suitable for Coeliacs. I was so impressed that I bought some of the products.

A good haul from Esgir. I bought one of each of the products that include gluten free croutons, crunchy crumbs and choco snack sticks

I spotted some new gluten free beers from exhibitors including Estrella Damm Daura (with their new Märzen variety), the Wellington Bomber Porter beer from Glebe Farm, Outlook by Stringer's, and Hepworth & Co. While Green's have updated and refreshed its branding. I also got to try CELIA Lager's new Dark variety. Very nice it was too.

The brand new Märzen gluten free beer from Estrella Damm Daura. It tasted great

CELIA Dark was very nice. Martin from CELIA tells me it's a great beer to accompany autumn and winter meals too

The updated branding on the Green's Gluten Free Beers range

I enjoyed the new Wellington Bomber Porter from Glebe Farm

Check out my compilation blog post on all the gluten free beers, ales and lagers I've found since I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease (the list currently stands at 89!).

Stringer's Outlook gluten free ale, one of the GF beers I'm yet to try

It was also good speaking with the team from Can I Eat There? and finding out more about their allergy and intolerance aware restaurant listings and review website.

I did feel that too many of the exhibitors at the event were trying to sell sell sell, rather than doing something a bit different to engage with the audience. The show offers from Esgir were very good, while many other stalls were selling at not much less than a supermarket price. Couple this with the fact that it was baking hot, and while in London people may not want to carry around lots of shopping (including raw meat, or frozen products) so it would be really nice to see the brands trying something new.

Another thought is that because the show is catering to so many different audiences (all with their own varied needs - some lifestyle, some medical) there will be some clashes. This was evident in some of the exhibitors who I know have products that are not suitable for Coeliacs due to manufacturing processes and/or potential cross-contamination - but are labelled as gluten and wheat free. I think that if you're going to offer gluten and wheat free you should go 100%. No half-measures. Granted, there are people with wheat intolerance and non-Coeliac Gluten Sensitivity etc. who may be fine after consuming these products, but there is a larger proportion who won't be. It leaves a Coeliac like myself with a bitter taste, to be tempted with GF & WF packaging, only to be let down when reading the small print.

As a 'veteran' Coeliac I check, double check and then check again before I take a bite or a sip of anything. Having been glutened on a number of occasions I know it's not worth the risk, so I hope some of the rookie Coeliacs at the show didn't make any errors, or get carried away, in their sampling.

The next food fair I'll be visiting is the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair organised by the Herts & Mid Beds Coeliac UK Volunteer Group. Hopefully there'll be lots of new and interesting gluten and wheat free products on show and to sample there.

To round off a very pleasant day in London Emily and I had another brilliant gluten free meal at Honest Burgers.

Check out the Allergy Show London website for more information on the event.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac
- Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015
- The Allergy and Free From Show 2014 at Olympia
- Sin Gluten
- Gluten free beer

Links:
- Allergy Show London
- Coeliac UK