While many students pile into the cafeteria each day to gorge on pizza or spaghetti or cake, others must forgo these lines in favor of wheat-less options. At the grocery store they scan food labels for words like wheat, barley, oats, natural flavor and modified food starch. These students, like about 18 million people in the U.S., are sensitive to the protein found in wheat, called gluten.
To accommodate the dietary needs of students with gluten intolerance, also known as celiac disease, the Harding cafeteria offers only gluten-free foods in the allergy-free line and also keeps gluten-free products like safe bread and mayonnaise in the bakery that are available upon request. At the salad bar, the attendants are careful to change their gloves if they handle foods that may potentially contain gluten so as to avoid cross-contamination.
If students have questions about what is in their food, the cafeteria staff members know to get Mike Tucker, who works as executive chef. Tucker said he serves about 25 students who have gluten intolerance, and he works directly with students who tell him they have special dietary needs to ensure that the allergy-free line provides safe foods for them.
“I’m available all the time with any kind of food problem,” Tucker said. “Everyone [who works in the cafeteria] knows where I am; the production office is just right by the door. Grab me by the sleeve when I’m walking by if you have a question.”
Sophomore Mike Bruns was diagnosed with celiac disease earlier this semester, and he said when he found out he was gluten intolerant, he thought his whole life would be different.
However, the changes to his diet have been easier to accommodate than he expected.
“I just sat there in bed, thinking this is going to change everything in my life, no going out to eat, all that,” Bruns said. “I thought, I’m never going to be able to eat anything like quote unquote ‘normal’ people eat, but through eating in the caf, finding stuff at Kroger and the Natural Food Store, it’s second nature now.”
In the cafeteria Bruns gets his food from the allergy-free line and salad bar, and he said his diet has become healthier since he switched to gluten-free eating, with apples, celery, chicken and potatoes becoming regular fare.
He said he cannot eat in the student center, however, and that he has been surprised by how limited the gluten-free selection is at Wal-Mart. Senior Amanda King, who is also gluten intolerant, said that Harps has a good gluten-free selection. Bruns also said that so far he has not found any restaurants to eat out at yet.
“It kind of changes date nights a lot,” Bruns said.
Bruns said he recommends that students with gluten intolerance find other friends with the same sensitivity; he said he has four or five friends with celiac disease and that he was able to go to them for advice after he was diagnosed.
Gluten intolerance has received a lot of attention in recent years due to growing awareness of the sensitivity, and more gluten-free offerings are available than ever. Gluten-free bakeries and restaurants with gluten-free menu options are popping up everywhere.
Just this past weekend, Little Rock’s first gluten-free bakery, the Dempsey Bakery located at 323 Cross Street, Suite B, celebrated its grand opening.
The Dempsey Bakery offers gluten-free bread, pies, cupcakes, pizza crust, and other baked goods.
The Natural Food Store sells some some gluten-free products and is closer to campus, located at 312 Beebe-Capps Expressway.
