What is Coeliac disease?

Coeliac Disease is a health condition that makes your body react badly to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. When you eat gluten, your body harms your own gut. This makes it hard for your body to get food energy and causes painful symptoms such as pain, rashes and tiredness.

Identifying food can be incredibly difficult as not all foods obviously have gluten in them. Always check the ingredients list of the food given to your child. Amongst more obvious food, some surprising sources of gluten include:

  • Processed or pre-prepared foods
  • Gravy and thickeners
  • Salad dressings, sauces
  • Some sweets and chocolate

Always check ingredient labels.

It may be appropriate for you to write a letter to your child’s school teacher to advise them of the issue and see whether they can make some reasonable adjustments to support your child. 

Coeliac UK have developed a handy app that will support you in identifying gluten free foods!