Dear Miss -
Thank you for contacting us regarding the BBC One programme ‘Saturday Kitchen’ broadcast on 9 April.
We understand you were unhappy with the comments made by Anthony Demetre about his eating habits even though he has been diagnosed with Coeliac disease.
Anthony is a diagnosed coeliac and his children have shown signs of wheat intolerance. He therefore cooked a dish that was without gluten as it is something he has always been keen to support within his restaurant business.
In discussing his eating habits Anthony was expressing his own personal way of coping with the condition and at no point did he advocate it as a diet that others should try. He accepts that maybe his choice of words could have been better judged but at no point did he intend to anger people and he is perfectly entitled to control his eating in any way he deems right for him. However, he apologises should anyone have been offended or upset by his words but he will continue to serve and cook gluten free food, something that is very unusual in the world of professional chefs.
'Saturday Kitchen' highlights a range of different culinary style and foods. We always strive to provide recipes that are suitable for all diets and we will continue to do so.
We would like to assure you that your concerns were raised with the ‘Saturday Kitchen’ production and registered on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
BBC Audience Services
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
His personal way of coping with the condition is DANGEROUS. Sure he may not be telling others to do the same but just by saying it, he is implying that it is ok to do so. I have no interest in how Anthony Demetre feels after eating gluten, all I know is that back when I first found out I was a coeliac, I may have heard those words and thought to myself that I too could have a diet that did indeed include gluten. That simply is not the case.
This goes to show just how little is known about coeliac disease and it makes me seethe.
Just got up for the morning and saw this blog. It made me seethe as well. There was discussion a while back on whether he did this to his kids. I haven't thoroughly researched it by any means but I did hear that some of them had coeliac disease as well.
ReplyDeleteI did try and submit a comment regarding the issue surrounding Anthony Demetre's 'moment', however IP addresses on the complaints form were blocked by the BBC outside of the UK (surprise, surprise). Unfortunately I had no access to software that could reassign an address to me (which was useful in the past).
Only a few weeks ago did a friend ask me what I thought would happen if she ate a piece of cake. I simply told her to imagine getting Type 1 diabetes as a result of just that one piece of cake. She was successful and didn't give in. As I often hear from various sources autoimmune conditions are extremely serious and can easily spread to other parts of the body.
Whether Demetre made this statement due to being uninformed or cheeky, I personally feel that this form of 'show presentation' (which was out of context with the show to begin with, not to mention everything else that went with it) will leave coeliacs to all but realise the seriousness.
We are so blessed to be able to rid ourselves of the only autoimmune condition that can be effectively treated (with just a dietary change at that!). So many just do not appreciate good health anymore.
If only I could find the time to write in greater depth about some of these matters, unfortunately it seems as though time slips and ca never find the right moment. Hopefully, with the end of my uni year in sight, I may be able to help shed some light over the gluten issues with regard to christmas feasting! ;)
I've not logged in for an age so I've only just seen this, Sorry! I want to read everything you have to say about gluten free christmas feasting please :)
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