There is a fascinating lawsuit in California where Anna Marie Phillips has sued A California woman P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. for charming a dollar extra for gluten-free food. Phillips says that gluten diets are necessary for people with celiac disease and thus the added charge violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit questions the basis for the charge which vegetables are gluten-free but are subject to the added charge. However, this is a relatively small charge and could be justified on the grounds of not just special ingredients but special preparation. The size of the charge is so small that the advantage will be with the restaurant. The chain can also point to the fact that it is ranked as the second most allergy-friendly restaurant by the website Allergy Eats. As shown above, it advertises its gluten-free approach. Moreover, a study by Canada’s Dalhousie Medical School found that all the commercially available products labeled gluten-free were 242 percent more expensive than comparable products. While this may also be due to inflated prices, it would work to the advantage of the restaurant chain.
The British Medical Journal found that it costs around $550 a year more to live gluten-free. It turns out that that amounts to $1.48 more per day, which is in line with the charge. Again, however, it will depend on the restaurant establishing a basis in the ingredients or the labor associated with the dishes.
Source: Yahoo
Karen, my daughter has asthma and IBS. She does so much better with low gluten grains. The grandkids don’t have asthma but do complain of tummy issues when they eat a lot of regular wheat pasta, bread and baked goods.
GAH another comment eaten by WordPress!
(second half to Nick)
I don’t announce my beliefs to everyone I meet without it being brought up in conversation by others, and often find it’s easier just to remain silent, like I used to way back in high school and for decades after that just because I was afraid I would be ridiculed and treated badly (which often happened otherwise). Only now I may not speak up simply because I don’t care what people believe anymore. My friends like me either because of my beliefs or despite them, and that’s all that matters. I even laughed out loud at your joke about knowing what certain people are when they walk into a bar. That probably seems true to many folks, as I have recognized that trait in many vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-free diners myself. Still, those groups are not in the same category as religious beliefs.
The POINT is not whether some people benefit from removing gluten from their diet. Pogo and I have both conceded that there are people who have gluten sensitivity. So?
The POINT is it discrimination under the ADA for a restaurant to charge higher for a gluten free meal? When the cost of the ingredients and the cost of preparation is higher can the restaurant pass on those costs?
It is discriminatory (which I doubt), then how do we prove that the person is REALLY “gluten disabled” or just following the latest fad.
Can a restaurant just not serve gluten free foods? Would that also constitute discrimination under the ADA?
Can you force the restaurant to provide a special diet for people who are TRULY gluten intolerant?
If so….what other special foods can you force a restaurant to prepare or not prepare.
Maybe people who have such narrow special dietary needs should either cook at home or only attend restaurants that specialize in their special needs.
The POINT is not whether some people benefit from removing gluten from their diet. Pogo and I have both conceded that there are people who have gluten sensitivity. So?
The POINT is it discrimination under the ADA for a restaurant to charge higher for a gluten free meal? When the cost of the ingredients and the cost of preparation is higher can the restaurant pass on those costs? Do they have to prepare the higher cost foods and then sell at a loss?
It is discriminatory (which I doubt), then how do we prove that the person is REALLY “gluten disabled” or just following the latest fad?
Can a restaurant just not serve gluten free foods? Would that also constitute discrimination under the ADA?
Can you force the restaurant to provide a special diet for people who are TRULY gluten intolerant?
If so….what other special foods can you force a restaurant to prepare or not prepare.
Maybe people who have such narrow special dietary needs should either cook at home or only attend restaurants that specialize in their special needs.
These are the issues.
PR:
I like Gwenyth Paltrow as an actress, but she’s given gluten sensitivity a bad name. That article about how her children have that specific hunger for carbs that she won’t satisfy made it appear her lifestyle was too obsessive and strict, without specific health reasons for her kids to not be allowed a bite of cake now and then.
I agree that many people have trouble digesting or tolerating gluten, or have sensitivity to it that does not rise to allergy or CD. I tested positive for gluten sensitivity, myself, which was news to me. But my asthma does better if I limit grains in general and cut out processed foods. It’s a shame, because I love pasta and bread (fresh croissants warm from the oven are manna.) I can use GF bread as a door stop.
I personally view those who avoid gluten in two groups: those who do so because they have a health benefit, and those who do so because they’ve become obsessive about food in an unhealthy way, or are chasing a fad. The latter give the former a bit of a bad rap. Anyone who announces with relish upon entering a room that they are vegan-gluten-free and only eat foods in specific combinations may be succumbing to that new eating disorder, orthorexia nervosa. I just heard on the radio about a blogger who used to be known as the Blonde Vegan, who got so obsessive she consumed nothing but juice for days at a time, her skin turned orange, her hair fell out, and her periods stopped. I believe she was in her twenties. She, like many, took a desire to optimize nutrition to a dark, obsessive place. Now she’s an omnivore, and healthy again. She has received death threats from some of her former devotees. Again, not a healthy sign if you’re threatening someone with death because you don’t agree with their food choices.
PR has already figured out you folks. That’s why she didn’t fall for the recruitment attempt the other night. I think somebody needs to go smoke some joints and mellow out, he sounds very angry and bitter today.
DBQ and Pogo, PR will figure her out soon enough. PR is just a very nice person and sees the good in folks. She’ll learn, as WE ALL have. I understand what Trooper was saying last night, but eventually everyone figures her out and then she has to move on. A pariah on 3, about to make it 4. In baseball, when you strike out 3 times it’s the hat trick. Strike out 4 times, it’s the Golden Sombrero. We must just be patient.
Nick, you group Atheists in with people like vegans, vegetarians, and other people who choose certain diet and lifestyle options, and you say this is because they all are saying “look at me” in announcing the fact. That grouping is making a comparison of dissimilar attributes. Atheism is a religious philosophy choice, the same as choosing to be in any other religion, and it has nothing to do with dietary selections. While many non-believers do make their lack of religion known publicly, it is because they are “coming out of the closet” instead of sitting silently while others around them unknowingly compare them to devils and make derogatory and otherwise disrespectful remarks about what they believe, not unlike what has been done to gays for so long and how they are reacting to it.
There are blood tests that indicate inflammation. Elevated Sed Rate and C Reactive Protein is a good way to prove inflammation in the body. If those tests show a return to normal when grains are removed from the diet, it’s would be a good indication that grains caused the inflammation. Not everyone is sensitive and trying to marginalize people who are is ignorant.
PR, I know it’s a problem for some. I have no idea what your issues are. I just see too many needy people looking for attention and being “special” and drawing attention to themselves through all the things they don’t eat. It is just part of our narcissistic culture. I know this woman who was an evangelical paleo diet person. She preached it incessantly on other blogs. Then she fell off the wagon, ballooned back up, and now is on another kick. I’m Italian. We have a very healthy relationship w/ food. I tire of the craziness and crazies in this country vis a vis food. You seem urbane and able to pick out the needy and crazies.
Darren, I just tried entering a (non-offensive) comment and got ignored. I tried again twice after modifying what I said and removing what I thought WordPress didn’t like (third time was the best), but to no avail. Maybe you can retrieve it and give it a current time stamp when you have time. Or, not. Thanks.
Thank you, Pogo! 🙂
Prairie
I never said that there is not a reason to avoid gluten. I’m sure that there are people who are helped by removing the protein from their diet and who are harmed by it being in their diet. I am also aware of the placebo effect. If it makes people feel better to cut back or remove gluten, one way or the other…fine. Good for them.
I just don’t think that it rises to the level of “disability” as envisioned in the ADA guidelines. Nor does it really belong in a lawsuit as referenced in this post. It is the LEGAL issues that we are concerned with in this post.
I feel fine, thank you. No migraines, no bloating, no ‘problemos’ para mi. Gluten is not a problem.. Neither is MSG which I also use in my oriental food cooking and on some steak rubs. Umami. We eat a moderately low carb diet anyway or eat low glycemic index carbs.
My husband can’t tolerate nitrates and gets severe migraines if he indulges. This is just something that he is aware of and avoids those food. Same thing with wines that have sulfides. No big deal. Just watch what you eat. We don’t whine about it to our friends or make a big deal if we are served foods with this in it. He just avoids it. He also doesn’t proselytize about it either. That’s the difference between hipster “food faddists” and people who have legitimate food or chemical intolerance.
And there IS a look at me culture. Those people who say they are gluten free and then have zero idea what gluten is or where it comes from. They just do it because it sounds cool and hip and is the in thing right now.
Nick, you group Atheists in with people like vegans, vegetarians, and other people who choose certain diet and lifestyle options, and you say this is because they all are saying “look at me” in announcing the fact. That grouping is making a comparison of dissimilar attributes. Atheism is a religious philosophy choice, the same as choosing to be in any other religion, and it has nothing to do with dietary selections. While many non-believers do make their lack of religion known publicly, it is because they are “coming out of the closet” instead of sitting silently while others around them unknowingly compare them to devils and make derogatory and otherwise disrespectful remarks about what they believe, not unlike what has been done to gays for so long and how they are reacting to it.
I don’t announce my beliefs to everyone I meet without it being brought up in conversation by others, and often find it’s easier just to remain silent, like I used to way back in high school and for decades after that just because I was afraid I would be ridiculed and treated badly (which often happened otherwise). Only now I may not speak up simply because I don’t care what people believe anymore. My friends like me either because of my beliefs or despite them, and that’s all that matters. I even laughed out loud at your joke about knowing what certain people are when they walk into a bar. That probably seems true to many folks, as I have recognized that trait in many vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-free diners myself. Still, those groups are not in the same category as religious philosophies.
There are people using GF as a shibboleth (especially when accompanied by a Prius), or following a fad.
But there is a hypersensitivity to these foods that does improve in some people, by religious avoidance.
PR, my daughter too uses only spelt and einkorn flours for all baked goods. My grandkids and my daughter report far less stomach upset. However if you are feeling better without all grains, I can understand the hesitance to reintroduce them. I was gluten free for a couple of years, but started hearing about the ancient grains and fermented doughs, so I experimented with them and so far no problems. The free market does what the free market will do. That’s Capitalism!
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Non coeliac gluten sensitivity – A new disease with gluten intolerance
Grażyna Czaja-Bulsa
Clinical Nutrition 29 August 2014
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561414002180
Nick, you group Atheists in with people like vegans, vegetarians, and other people who choose certain diet and lifestyle options, and you say this is because they all are saying “look at me” in announcing the fact. That grouping is making a comparison of dissimilar attributes. Atheism is a religious philosophy choice, the same as choosing to be in any other religion, and it has nothing to do with dietary selections. While many Atheists do make their lack of religion known publicly, it is because they are “coming out of the closet” instead of sitting silently while others around them unknowingly compare them to devils and make derogatory and otherwise disrespectful remarks about Atheists, not unlike what has been done to gays for so long and how they are reacting to it.
I don’t announce my beliefs to everyone I meet without it being brought up in conversation by others, and often find it’s easier just to remain silent, like I used to way back in high school and for decades after that just because I was afraid I would be ridiculed and treated badly (which often happened otherwise). Only now I may not speak up simply because I don’t care what people believe anymore. My friends like me either because of my beliefs or despite them, and that’s all that matters. I even laughed out loud at your joke about Atheists and others who walk into a bar. That probably seems true to many folks, as I have recognized that trait in vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-free diners myself. Still, those groups are not in the same category as religious beliefs.
Inga,
“PR, pay no attention to them. I don’t think you’re the “look at me” type. If eating gluten free makes you feel better, more power to you.”
I’m not perturbed. 🙂 I think there is a great need for education on this subject due to the media. It’s a shame that being gf has gotten presented as a fad and as a marketing-scheme when there is a true health issue for so many people.