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Let's make a change..

I am getting a lot of angry mail messages lately from people griping
about one food manufacturer or another, some type of product or another.
 It seems there are a lot of people out there with too much time on
their hands and soap boxes ten feet tall.  I don't mean to offend
anyone, but celiacs griping to celiacs is kind of like the tree falling
in the forest (does anyone hear it fall?).

There are a lot of great ideas and a lot of very intelligent people out
there (you've got to be half-way smart just to post one of these things,
right?).  How about we stop sitting around and really get on the move to
make some change?

I think most would agree that celiacs are not trying to change the way
manufacturers are producing food, only that they (celiacs) don't have to
continually call the manufacturers asking if food is 100% gluten free.

The most frustrating part of being a celiac is not that you don't get to
eat any good food, it's that you see something in the store that looks
interesting, read the ingredients (all look safe), take it home and eat
it.  When you get sick, you get suspicious, call the manufacturer and
find out there is some type of cross contamination, etc.  It takes a
full time job just to see if what you can eat, you can eat.

I agree with the statements that lawsuits will not help, only drive the
price of food up and make the manufacturers less cooperative with the
needs of people with food allergies.  I don't think that boycotts will
help.  The small number of people with food allerigies is not enough to
drive the corporations to change (obviously, or they would have already
changed).

I think the most wonderful soulution would be labeling to signify
EXACTALY what a product is made of.  How nice it would be to go to the
store, pick up a product, flip over and read the label and make your
decision.  I know that someone has made the point that the manufacturers
will simply stamp "May Contain Gluten" on everything and be done with
it.  But that's ok, too.  It beats having to call the manufacturer and
have them tell you the same thing straight to your face.  At least
you've saved the time as well as the money not purchasing the product in
the first place.  Hey, maybe if sales of the product decrease, they will
change the way they manufacture the product.

Why don't we band together with people of other allergies and make a
compassionate plea to the FDA and lawmakers to change what we read.  One
idea I read about is an 'Allergy Bar' that is added to the current
Nutrition Facts label required on products.  This would be an area
located somewhere on the label with certain letters or symbols, etc.
that denote the major food allergies.  For example S=3Dsoy,
W=3Dwheat/gluten, P=3Dpeanuts, D=3Ddairy(lactose), C=3Dcorn, etc., for
all of the major food allergies (major being those allergies that can
withstand proper support, I think we all realize that there is someone
in the world allergic to everything).  We have to get to the heart of
the FDA and lawmakers and get a compassonite ear.  If we just hound them
like crazy people, they will simply treat us like hypocondriactics.  For
many, the diagnosis of a food allergy is new.  Think of how you would
have felt just a few months ago if someone with an allergy came to you.
Most, I dare say, would not have given a thought to that person's needs.

So let's use this service to make change.  Let's share ideas and make a
difference.  Let's try to make life EASIER FOR OURSELVES.

Please do not flood me with responses agreeing or disagreeing with the
above comments.  That only wastes my time and yours.  If you have any
more ideas, please write.  If you think your ideas are great, by all
means post them to everyone so we all can share.  We need some labeling
ideas, some names, some contacts, some addresses and some telephone
numbers.  Remember NO aggressive letters or harrassing phone calls to
these poeple.  We want their help.

Mitchel Laman
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