Gluten free . Coeliac . It was when I came to Australia that I first heard those words. And then I kept hearing it, and hearing it. People who have coeliac, or celiac, have immune systems which don't react well to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Many restaurants here cater to people who require a gluten free diet because it is that common. Over time, I started hearing about more people with different allergies. A story of a kid who can't have nuts or peanut butter, another story of a kid who can't have nuts, dairy, gluten and some other stuff, and schools which decide to ban things like peanut butter and nuts altogether because some kids have allergies so bad that if you touched peanut butter then touched the kid, the kid would go into anaphylaxis. This is serious and can be threatening. This happens every Spring here – everyone talks about hay fever. Of course people in Singapore have allergies – nut allergies, shellfish aller...
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