Radley’s Bar & Bistro was recently awarded the Coeliac UK GF accreditation, which means that the restaurant provides gluten-free meals while adhering to the strictest standard necessary to provide such meals. Before the standard is awarded, all areas needed to prepare gluten-free meals are considered and the standard also checks to see whether there is training in place. Together with her husband, Briony Bridgemount is the owner of the George Street establishment in the Old Town and she was quite pleased to have received the accreditation.
She commented that eating out was a major problem for people with coeliac disease. People with disease can’t even eat chips if they have been cooked in a fryer with batter inside as this contaminates them. She gave a good example of how difficult it was for people with the disease to eat out by pointing out that one person had driven for an hour and a half on April 9th to have dinner at their restaurant because they couldn’t find somewhere else to eat. She mentioned that although more people are becoming aware of coeliac disease, avoiding cross contamination is still a major challenge and some people becoming ill due to just one crumb of bread.
She stated that achieving this standard was a good way to let anyone who has coeliac disease know that they can safely eat there and they wanted the word to spread that there was a place there where they could eat. She added that it was now three years since the restaurant first started providing gluten-free meals and they’d decided it was a good time to become officially accredited.
When the Coeliac UK GF accreditation is given to a restaurant, this means that the establishment knows the laws with regard to general and gluten-free food safety. The establishment is also aware of the risk of cross contamination and has measures to control this at all stages of food preparation e.g. by using storing ingredients and finished meals properly, using clean water and clean oil to avoid cross contamination. It also means that the staff in the establishment has been trained in all areas of preparing and serving gluten free food. Coeliac UK carries out an in-depth audit before issuing the accreditation.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease that affects 1 in a hundred and the disease has no cure. Only 24% of people with the disease are aware that they have it according to Coeliac UK.