Surely anyone employed in the role of 'catering staff' should be aware of coeliacs?

[weee]

But apparently not. I would have though the interview process would have included finding out about the applicants basic general knowledge on those who are adversely affected by what they eat.

I was working at T in the Park (a large music festival in Scotland in case anyone hasn't heard of it) and there was a catering tent for staff. I worked 3 night shifts and every break time I asked what was gluten free on the menu. and every time I was asked 'what's that, oh coeliacs, i've never heard of it.'

Once the lady said I'll go check with the chef and she came back and said 'the curry should be ok, it only has a tiny bit of flour in it'

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH FLOUR IS IN IT...

Rant over.. But surely people interviewed for such jobs should be aware..

[FionaGFG Administrator]

So have you emailed the organisers for T in the Park to suggest better training for their event staff? What response did you get?

[weee]

I haven't Fiona.. I thought it might be a waste of time.. But I will.. I'll let you know..

BTW spell check wanted to change your name to 'Fixation' lol..

[FionaGFG Administrator in reply to weee]

Always worth following up if it's pissed you off to make life simpler for a future coeliac. You'd be amazed how little training caterers get on dietary requirements or how long ago they went to college! Fixation on coeliac is probably what it meant ; )

[nutzieone]

If you go onto coeliac uk website they have pdfs that you can download and give to them, they are specifically aimed at catering staff. In fact I think there is a "pack" specifically for catering people! Good luck! Its so frustrating though, I know. Some people just dont get it. I do love it when my friends, being ever so careful, ask if I can have something obviously GF such as popcorn or drink a soft drink! Bless em, at least they care!

[weee]

Thank you Nutz, I'll go check it out ..My friends are the best too.. Well some of them..One came to my house for a girly night with a bag of food saying you can't have any of this but I brought it anyway..lol..

[benjac64]

I am currently starting a Food Allergy Training Consultancy to educate the Food Service Industry, as I am aware of the lack of knowledge within the industry. I trained as chef over 30 years ago there was no allergy training in those days, even though I remember one of the fellow students parents having CD - I have a brother in who lecturers at a catering college, reading some of the student text books they have less than half a page on allergies and state that CD as an allergy autoimmune disease. the lack of information is dangerous!

[Hidden]

It doesn't surprise me.

a packed lunch comes to mind Weee for the next time just in case.

We are the new vegetarians but unforchently we can't eat the salad cause they've stuck some croutons in it and some of us still can't eat it if we pick them out.

[weee]

Good for you Ben, if you need any help with that give me a shout.

KH yes I'm usually pretty prepared but as I was volunteering and was on a 12 hour night shift I thought the least they can do is feed me and try not to poison me..