How to Handle 'No Outside Food' Rules When You Have Celiac Disease Ep. 194

In this episode of The Healthy Celiac Podcast, I’m diving into a frustrating yet all-too-common experience—being denied the right to eat your safe gluten-free food in public places. Whether it's an indoor playground, a festival, a sports event, or even an airplane, you have the right to eat safely. I’ll share real-life stories of people who were turned away, what the law says about your rights, and exactly how to handle these situations with confidence. Learn how to push back against ‘no outside food’ policies, how to get past gatekeepers who don’t understand celiac disease, and what steps you can take to protect yourself and your children in the future. Tune in for practical tips that will leave you feeling empowered and prepared!

Disclaimer: This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. While I strive to provide accurate and helpful information, laws and regulations may vary by location. I encourage you to do your own research and seek professional legal guidance if needed. Always advocate for yourself with confidence and stay informed about your rights.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

On today's episode. I'm talking all about how to keep you safe when you go to other places and there may not be safe gluten-free options for you, for someone living with celiac disease. So we're going to be talking about some of the places that you may find yourself going where you don't trust that there's going to be gluten-free options, how to keep yourself safe, how to get past the no outside food rules and some extra steps to put in place so that you don't face these issues anytime in the future. So let's jump into it Now. I wanted to record this episode because I see so many people time and time again, time and time again, sharing how upset they are that they took, perhaps, their child to a playground like an indoor playground, where you know you pay to go in. Your child goes to play on that equipment and they've taken safe food for their child, but then there's a sign that says no outside food. You must purchase food from our cafe and when they've, you know, said that their child has to eat gluten-free because they have celiac disease, they've been told to leave that venue. I know of one child that was told they couldn't even eat that food in the venue and the mother took a photo of this poor child sitting outside of the venue, sitting on the concrete outside, eating their food that the mum had taken that was gluten free. Now this is actually illegal. This is not right and unfortunately that mum didn't know that she had rights for her child. So in this situation this shouldn't have happened. It should have never have escalated to this situation that makes that child feel so out of it, so left out, so different, so excluded. It is not fair on that child. Indifferent, so excluded, it is not fair on that child, let alone the mother. That mother must have felt like absolute rubbish. Now you might have been in a situation like this before where you know you've gone to go to an event and you couldn't get any safe food and you wanted to take your own food in with you and you couldn't.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Now I have been to plenty of festivals, I've been to performances, I've been to. You know all these different events, sports events and usually you will see a sign that says no outside food. Do you know what? I always, always take food with me. I don't care because I know that I'm covered legally, I have rights and I'm allowed to take my own food if there is not a safe option for me. If there is a safe option for me, I will support that business and I will purchase that food, but if there's not that food, then what am I going to do? Starve.

Speaker 1: 3:24

I have been to a festival where we were there for hours and hours and hours and my husband and I we took an entire picnic with us. Everything was gluten free, all the cheeses were vegan so that they had no lactose in them completely safe for me. And people were looking at us like whoa, check out, check out this setup that these people have brought in. You could tell that they were jealous. Out this setup that these people have brought in. You could tell that they were jealous and going how come they got to bring food in? You could just see everyone's minds ticking over and I was like you know what? I don't even care, because I'm legally covered to consume this food. Thank God, because there was nothing at that festival that I could safely eat. If I had been there that whole afternoon and evening without food, I would have been struggling, I would have been hangry, I would have been probably getting a headache. So in that situation, I am so glad that I took my own food and that you know. My husband made sure that he was there to back me up as well. But you can take your own food to these places and here's how you go about it.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Celiac disease is covered as a disability in most countries. So I know for a fact that here in Australia, in the USA, in Canada, you are covered by by the disability acts in your country. So you are actually allowed to take food to these venues. If they cannot provide you with celiac, safe, 100% gluten-free options, you are covered because it is a medical necessity Okay, a medical necessity. So there's a couple of ways of going about this. You can explain it to the person that's giving you pushback. So if they are saying that you know you can't bring your own food in, that's our policy, that's our policy. No, no, no. Then you can say, look, I've got a medical necessity for this and I'd like to speak to the manager, I'd like to speak to your superior, and they go and get that person and they still don't want a bar of it. That's when you need to have another action plan in place. Most of the time, it will stop there. I have seen it time and time again when you just say, hey, I've got celiac disease. And they go oh yeah, no, that's fine, no worries, we don't have anything here for you, so come on in. So that can be enough. But for some people it is not enough and they get their back up and they get really annoyed about it.

Speaker 1: 6:06

I supported a lady last year just through having a conversation online. She wasn't a client or anything, but I just felt compelled to reach out to her and what happened was her daughter was going to an end-of-year event for her sporting club and her and her mother were told they had to buy the food that was being provided and that was fine. The mother reached out to the sporting club and said will there be safe gluten-free options for my daughter who has celiac disease? They said no, we can't provide any food for you. You still have to purchase the food and you can't bring your own food. Like, make that, make sense, how is that fair? So, lo and behold, I gave her all this information. I took some screenshots of some details of how she was covered from the Disability Act, sent it through to her and I said to her send this to the sporting club, let them know that they have to provide you with gluten-free food and if they cannot, you have a legal right to take your own food for your daughter, and you shouldn't have to be paying for food that she can't consume. So she did that and guess what happened? She didn't have to pay for the other food, she was allowed to take her own food and everything worked out well. So you know, sometimes we do have to stick up for ourselves and we do have to educate these people that it's in their best interest to look after our health and to allow us to take our own food if they cannot provide that food for us. So in that instance, that worked really, really well.

Speaker 1: 7:46

So you may find that you are traveling on an airplane and you need to take more food than the next person because you know you're traveling and you may not get gluten-free food on the plane. There are, um, there are situations where you have to make sure that you don't have a certain amount of liquids on a plane. So it's about being cautious of what types of food you are taking onto an airplane, depending on whether you're flying in a on a domestic, depending on whether you're flying on a domestic flight, depending on whether you're flying international. That will change things as well. It'll depend on what country you're flying from, which airline you're flying from, so it's important to know what you are allowed to take with you. I would contact the airline directly if I were you. That's my recommendation and get a letter from your doctor. You may be able to get extra baggage allowance for taking extra food, depending on the airline. So that's something to think about, but it's a really good idea.

Speaker 1: 8:49

If you're not a confident person or you're a bit more timid and you feel embarrassed and you don't know how to get your words out. Sometimes, when we feel anxious and stressed out, it's really hard to find the right words to say. Have your doctor write it in a letter and then, when you're confronted with these situations, you can present that letter to the person that's giving you grief and that can make a huge difference because it's right there as a medical necessity, so that could support you, depending on your personality. I personally haven't found that I've needed that. I've been confident enough to stick up for myself and obviously this has taken many, many years to do so and know that you will get there. But initially, if that's something that's going to make you feel better about standing up for your rights. Give that a go, or simply download the Disability Act from your country and take that along with you.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Businesses don't want to be dealing with being told that they're discriminating people, so that can be supportive as well. So try the letter from your doctor, try a printout of the Disability Act, or you could even simply have a celiac card, so it's like a medical card that you print out or you can order online. I'll put a link to the one below that I recommend and it basically says on there I have a medical necessity to eat gluten-free. I have celiac disease. This is what happens to me if I do not eat safe gluten-free food, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 10:16

You can get these in multiple different languages. So if you were traveling, these are ideal for taking to places you know you might be going somewhere where there's a language barrier and you have no idea how to explain to the person on the gate of the venue that you're going into about celiac disease and gluten-free. This is where these cards can make that step much easier for you. So I highly recommend that, if you're going somewhere where you don't speak the language, that you grab one of those and you use that to make your life easier because they are a game changer and often, even in English speaking countries, they are enough. They are perfect for just showing what you know, what your needs are. So I recommend giving either all three of those a go, or one of those, whichever one you feel comfortable with, and and feeling, feeling powerful, feeling confident in the fact that you are protected and the fact that you are allowed to eat food in whatever environment it is that you need to, that other people are eating food.

Speaker 1: 11:25

Yes, there are situations where you're not allowed to eat food. So that is different. That's respecting those rules of no food, no drink in a particular location. We're not talking about that. We're talking about when the general population gets to eat whatever the heck they want and we miss out. I'm talking about those situations. So when other people can eat whatever the heck they want and you're told over here no, sorry, you can't eat your food. No, no, no. That's what we're talking about. So in those situations, that's when you can take your gluten-free food and have safe options. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, whether this has inspired you to stick up for your rights in the future or your children's rights, and feel empowered to look after your health and to eat gluten-free. So thank you so much for listening and tuning in, and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Have a great week, take care Bye.