It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

So let’s make it this way! Christmas is, for a lot of people, a super exciting time… something they really look forward to. It involves getting together with friends and family, colleagues, and it also involves a lot of food and treats. 

For people with a restricted diet, the “food part” of Christmas is not so straight forward. I am here to provide you with a few tips, which will hopefully make it a bit easier for you or anybody trying to organise a Christmas meal or gathering.

Our dining out with allergies guide is a great starting point if you or someone else needs to organise a meal out. It gives you some clear guidance on the things you should look and ask for when booking a restaurant, and should provide you with a level of reassurance (if the place you’ve picked ticks all the boxes, of course) that the place takes allergies seriously. 

Our website now covers a variety of locations, which might be exactly where you are looking to book a meal, and there are also a number of chains (the Lounges, Wagamama, Pizza Express, Turtle Bay) that have consistently received a high score from our community. This could be a great starting point if you are looking to organise a meal out where one or more people are affected by food allergies or coeliac disease. You want everyone to feel welcome, this time of year especially.

If you are looking to organise a work do why not start by asking if they have any dietary requirements or allergies? If the answer is yes, then reach out to them and review the possible options on our website and ask your colleagues about these. By doing this, not only you are being considerate towards their needs, but you are also understanding what their concerns are and this should give you enough information to be able to book somewhere suitable for everyone. It might sound obvious, but a lot of people don’t go this far in accommodating everybody’s needs. Dietary concerns might also be related to religious reasons, so be open to whatever people might raise with you. They’ll be thankful and pleasantly surprised you are being so considerate. 
The above tips are 100% applicable if you are organising a family meal out or a gathering with friends!

If you are not going out for a meal, and instead you are planning to bring treats to the office or are simply organising a little party, the Free From Food Awards have now published the winners of this year’s first Christmas Awards; you can browse the list here and see what the selected products are and their allergen information. If you are thinking about sharing treats with colleagues then you clearly have good intentions but obviously you want to do your best (where possible) to make sure that everyone can enjoy what you have brought in. There is so much choice available these days and, you never know, you might make someone’s day (or year!) if you include them.

Have a fabulous Christmas!