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The Free From community has been shocked and angered today to read that UK pub chain JD Wetherspoon (known colloquially as Wetherspoons) think that high temperatures can “destroy gluten”.

In a tweet, Tori Massey shared this e-mail she had received from the pub in reply to her comments regarding the gluten free food in their Gate Clock branch:

Shockingly, in the e-mail Ms Massey had received from Wetherspoons they claimed that whilst the fryers are shared between gluten containing and non-gluten containing dishes, “due to the high temperature of the fryer this destroys any residual gluten from other products also cooked in the fryer”.

In her tweet, Ms Massey appealed to Coeliac UK to help her, who promptly replied:

Whilst Coeliac UK points out that Wetherspoons are not accredited with them (for good reason, it seems!) they add that they will be speaking to them.

Wetherspoons are yet to comment but the effects of their e-mail are being seen across social media already. Several well known bloggers have tweeted and posted on Facebook about their disgust over Wetherspoons’ ignorance and lack of Coeliac awareness.

This comes back to a repeatedly asked question about the level of awareness in the general populace: do non-Coeliacs understand cross contamination and its ramifications for the health of those with Coeliac Disease? You can read more here , here and here about this.

The Gluten Free Veggie asked Ms Massey for a follow-up comment and she replied that she “honestly can’t believe how little they care about safety!” She added that “I explained in my first email that you can not burn off gluten, yet they just sent back a generic reply without even looking at what had been sent. They have no care for public health!”

In the wake of instances such as two people dying as a result of Pret a Manger’s negligence, we are forced to ask – can we trust eateries to take even basic steps towards cross contamination?

Will you be eating in a Wetherspoons after this incident? Do you have a different or similar experience to this? Let us know in the comments!