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I read the article entitled "Let Them Eat (Gluten-Free) Cake" in the
Weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal and considered the article to
be insensitive to people with food allergies as well as in extremely
poor taste.  The questions that comes to my mind is:  Does the hostess
plan a dinner party with the mindset of how she/he can impress everyone
without regard to whether their guests may become sick or even die from
food served?  If the shoe were on the other foot and the host/hostess
had a food allergy, they would not include those food items in their menu.

My husband has a food allergy called Celiac disease, which is a Gluten
autoimmune disorder, and if he eats food that has wheat flour or barley or
oats or rye in it such as pizza, a piece of bread, cake, doughnut, pasta,
beer, a hamburger bun (and the list goes on and on), or tomato paste in
spaghetti sauce that has wheat flour in it or a can of soup that has any
gluten in it, people who have Celiac disease become sick for several days
with intestine problems and some end up in the hospital.  Long term
ingestion of gluten (and it is in essentially everything in the American
diet) results in colon cancer and death.  And, I'm not talking only about
people with Celiac disease.  What about the people who are allergic to
peanuts (i.e., the airlines have now eliminated peanuts from being served
by airlines), and people who are allergic to strawberries, kiwi fruit,
etc.

They could die from eating those items.  It is not a funny subject to
anyone who has a food allergy.

If you have been listening to the news lately, you'd be hearing that
food allergies are becoming more and more prevalent; about 25% of the
population of Europe has Celiac disease and many people in the United
States have this allergy and don't know it, which could result in an
early death if not detected in a timely manner.

If it's so frustrating to a host/hostess to have to prepare a menu
around people's allergies, how do you think they'd feel if they served
something (hidden in the recipe) that killed one of their guests?  I
guess it wouldn't be frustrating then, would it?  I can tell you that
it's a lot more embarrassing for the host/hostess to serve something
that a guest is allergic to rather than asking beforehand what they
can't eat, or letting guests know what your menu plan is.  I once served
shrimp to guests only to be told during dinner that one guest had a
shellfish allergy.  I felt bad that I had not asked ahead of time.

There seems to be a mindset in the United States especially, that if
people don't fit 'your' mold, then to hell with them, for example, the
woman who prepared the coconut birthday cake for her boyfriend and 'got
a new boyfriend' when he told her he was allergic to coconut.  I say he
was lucky to be rid of her.

Isn't the reason for having dinner parties is to spend time visiting
with those we enjoy being with?  Isn't it important to make guests feel
comfortable in your home, or has the reason for entertaining become to
'impress' only?  And, Julia Child has a right to think people are
"dreadful bores" if they don't want to eat butter (pure fat), however, I
believe it's guests' right to decline eating fat if they so desire.

And, restaurant chefs:  Would you like to be sued for serving a dish with
wheat in it and the patron ended up in the hospital, or would you rather
know the ingredients of your menu items and answer honestly when asked?
The people aren't asking these questions because they are 'picky eaters';
they are asking because it is a serious and deadly health problem for
them.

Most patrons would like to know and only ask because they have to
because of health reasons, and they are more than willing to select
something else from the menu.  In addition, most people are more than
willing to eat around selected menus or bring their own food items if
they are allergic to the hostess/host's menu.  My husband and I bring
non-gluten items for him to our friend's homes all of the time, and most
of our friends are very gracious and cook without gluten when they
invite us for dinner or we bring food that he can eat.

I'd like to see an article on the front page of the Weekend edition of
the Wall Street Journal discussing the true seriousness of allergy
problems and how people could be more sensitive and gracious to their
family and friends who have life-threatening food allergies.

Sandra Cordell
San Diego, CA