If You're Gluten-Free, You're a Picky Eater

gluten free picky eater

Once again, us celiacs been lumped together with other “picky eaters”.

The above video was from the Kathy Lee and Hoda show a few days ago.

My apologies for the crappy quality, but it’s not nearly as crappy as the quality of the show itself.

Basically, they are talking about people with food restrictions and what a pain in the ass they can be.

And here are the various groups they mention in the same sentence: vegan, people who don’t like dairy, gluten-free, those on Jenny Craig, those on Weight Watchers and those on Nutri-System.

Really folks? You’re comparing those who need to eat gluten-free to stay alive with those who CHOOSE to eat packaged food to lose weight? Really?

I’m sure if precious Cody or Cassidy had celiac disease, Kathie Lee would have a much, much different viewpoint.

The funny thing is, if you watch the entire segment, I agree with a lot of what they say.

People can be a pain in the ass about food. And when you’re invited to a dinner party, it’s not about you.

Totally agree.

But then they finish with this nugget…”unless it’s something serious, like a peanut allergy.”

That was it. No mention of why somebody just might be gluten-free.

This is the second Today Show fail in the past two months. It seems like nobody in their cocoon has ever heard of celiac disease.

If I’m the producer of the show, here is what I say to them before the show starts:

Kathie Lee, Hoda…I see you are doing a segment on picky eaters. I understand your approach, but at the same time, there are millions of people who are not gluten-free by choice and we should use our platform to make sure people are aware of that.

So you have two options:

1) You can leave gluten-free eaters off your list.

2) If you insist on labeling gluten-free people as picky eaters, you need to have the decency to just mention celiac disease, like you do the peanut allergy.

But we got nothing.

Ignorance is so ugly. It really is.

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56 thoughts on “If You're Gluten-Free, You're a Picky Eater”

    1. Well, I must admit that I have NEVER liked Kathy Lee and most of my dislike stems from ignorant statements that seem to fly out of her mouth.
      She can just stay home and enjoy HER OWN pre-packaged meal and not “annoy” US with her gluten IGNORANCE intolerance.

  1. Absolutely pathetic! How do they allow ignorance like that to be on TV? If I had any respect for them as people to begin with, I certainly wouldn’t after seeing that!

    1. The Gluten Dude

      There are a few media “personalities” that just seem to grate on people. And Kathie Lee is right up there.

  2. This drives me up the wall. I can’t stand when people talk about things they clearly know nothing about. Kathy Lee is amazing at this! I think we should all email to the show with some educational words. I have already tweeted ding dong 1 and 2 about this.

  3. This reminds me of something that happened the other day. A friend showed me the online menu for Noodles & Co.. They have a tab on the top that says “avoiding gluten”.

    All I could think/say (one and the same lately!), was “Yeah. I “avoid gluten”. Kinda like I ‘avoid’ IEDs!”

    P.S. Is verbal-filter-loss one of the 300 symptoms for anyone else, or just me? Just curious . . .

    1. verbal filter loss (snort! ) 🙂
      good one!

      I think it is just our inability to tolerate raging idiocy?

      so…we’re ” idiot-intolerant” as well.

      🙂

      1. The Gluten Dude

        “so…we’re ” idiot-intolerant” as well.’

        As well we should be. I just wish more people were.

  4. To be fair this is the same women that interviewed Martin Short and asked how his wife was (she died about 5 years ago) – I would hope people might be intelligent enough to realise that anything that comes out of her mouth are just the words of a moron! What a pair of dozy tarts!!!!!

  5. These two women are drunks anyway. I can’t believe they’re sitting there drinking alcohol at 10 in the morning! They’re shallow people as well.
    I saw the segment but shut it off because I could see where it was headed and I didn’t feel like getting angry.
    Michele Bernstein, on her show “Check Please” , a show that reviews local restaurants, once commented “What’s with all these gluten free people” and rolled her eyes. I went into a screaming FIT! A CHEF, making a comment like that! I emailed a very lengthy rant.
    Her “assistant” emailed me back with Michele’s reply in which she basically denied she said it and then proceeded to give me a “spanking”. OH NO YOU DINT IT Michele!! I returned the volley and basically told her she didn’t know a thing about the subject AND I had several witnesses that she in FACT DID say what she did.
    She then personally emailed me, apologized, and invited me to her restaurant in Miami for a GF meal.
    I haven’t gone, and I won’t.

    1. Good for you, girl!

      I just followed the link to your bakery.

      Darn!…wish I had known about you when I was in FLA in March. I would have come to buy some goodies. I was in Jensen Beach, but I’d drive that far for homemade yummies.

      Next time!

      1. I’m in the process of revamping the web site. We also now have VEGAN GF bread! It’s awesome! tastes like real whole wheat bread, only BETTER! Whenever you’re in SF, call me, I deliver!

      1. I’ll look for it Dude. Really pissed me off. She and I got into quite a heated argument about cross contamination in restaurants as well. I think she really felt attacked. I do come off like a nut job sometimes. I’m not afraid of confronting anyone.

        1. ok, found it. http://video.wpbt2.org/video/2195098145
          it’s at the 23 -24 minute mark. I think you can drag the play slide to it. And now having watched it for only the second time, I guess I did get too out of joint. but it was the “comment” that ticked me off. She’s a renowned chef for goodness sake, she should know WHY. Guess I’m just too sensitive about this stuff but it does show that she doesn’t understand.
          Too bad because it really is a good show. I rarely watch it anymore though.

          1. It’s the …. “What is it with all of you?” comment and the look. (It’s as if she would roll her eyes if she weren’t on camera.) I agree that we are all oversensitive to these types of remarks, but it doesn’t make them any less hurtful. Again, they would never say, “What’s with all you diabetics out there….?”

    2. Wow, I remember her from Top Chef. I’d love to look up that clip. Why do so many chefs hate gluten free diners? I appreciate the few chefs who actually enjoy helping diners with special dietary requirements and enjoy the challenge and rise to it with creativity and originality!!

  6. being accused of being “picky” infuriates me. I probably eat a better variety of foods now being celiac then I ever did in pre-celiac. Bottom line people are ignorant.

  7. Hoda used to do serious journalism, but she has destroyed her reputation by participating in this booze-fest with the most over-rated bimbo on TV. What is her talent exactly? Stealing other women’s husbands? She makes me want to hurl.

    I do not understand their appeal. Are people sitting at home, drinking wine in the morning and enjoying this drivel? This speaks volumes about the audience they reach.

    I do NOT watch the Today Show for many reasons, but these 2 are just a disgrace.

    Berni has used that phrase again and I LOVE it–dozy tarts!!

    Brilliant!!

  8. I made it on the show once before, when they ripped on people who were in menopause and not taking hormones (I can’t, I had cancer, jerks), so I posted a comment to their page and a tweet. We’ll see if it happens again!

    What makes it so infuriating is that on their page – http://klgh.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12543988-should-hosts-cater-to-restricted-dieters – the majority of the comments are a “screw you” to anyone who might have severe issues is that we should all be hermits and stay home, and bring our own food to everything. Because, you know, having to make minor adjustments to the host’s food is SO difficult and we NEVER deserve a break. I decided it was better there to refer to myself as celiac (technically my doctors are now calling what I have as non-genetic celiac disease) rather than my usual allergic to wheat/gluten to drive the point home about how serious we are about this issue.

    My friends and family are 2000% more respectable than the folks who said those comments and KLG and Hoda. Very disappointing.

  9. This is so frustrating…and proves our point of what mainstream media truly thinks of “gluten-free” – that is simply a fad diet… nothing more. I followed the link that Concetta provided (thank you!) and there is a heated conversation going on about whether or not hosts should ‘have to’ provide food to those with dietary restrictions.

    It reminds me of the horrible comment that Martha Stewart made back in December, when asked about food allergies – her response (directly quoted from an online article): “Oh my God! Don’t ask! My rule is do not ask about dietary restrictions,’ she says, clearly averse to making an extra effort for certain guests. ‘We had a charity dinner – we had every single kind of restriction. It was horrible!’ she recalls to the newspaper. The cooking maestro, seemingly so welcoming and in control, does make one minor concession. ‘You have to be semi-prepared,’ she says of picky eaters. ‘But don’t fret about it. Everybody can miss a meal.’ Those with a host of allergies, take note: Sneaking a snack into your handbag may be a good idea before leaving home this Christmas.”

    “Everybody can miss a meal”? Seriously? If the world’s best host (said sarcastically) cannot even consider accommodating dietary restrictions….. then, who will? And I’m sorry, but I didn’t need Martha Stewart to tell me to bring my own snack with me when I go out. We Celiacs are pretty self-sufficient folks, we don’t need any help from her.

    I would guess that a majority of us (I can’t speak for all…) take our own personal responsibility for our illness and for our own food intake – I don’t think we ever presume that others will always be 100% diligent for us. And, we don’t expect people to go out of their way for us. However, we are always pleasantly surprised (and sometimes overjoyed!) when someone does go the extra mile to make a special gluten-free meal for us. These media misfits make us gluten-free-eaters sound like we require that everyone bow down to our demands of a gluten-free world. I just don’t think it’s like that at all.

    Louise, I am also horrified by this Michele Bernstein quote (Dude, if you can find the link – I’d love to see it!) ….and I was on a site yesterday that said a well-known chef (no name given) was also purposely putting flour in gluten-free dishes when requested because he doesn’t believe anyone truly has to avoid gluten. WTF?!?! What has this world come to? No one would ever lace a diabetic’s meal with sugar!! I just don’t understand. :-

    I guess all we can do is just continue to fight the good fight and try to get the accurate information out there…. even though Hollywood and the mainstream media seems to be fighting us every step of the way.

    1. I saw that Martha Stewart article back at the holidays. Nice huh?.

      I have just one word for her anyway, long before she said that crap.

      “Hostess”, is not it .

      Anyone wanna guess what it is?

  10. The Atomic Mom

    This is just as good as a Segment from “The Doctors” TV show a few months ago about “faking a butter allergy” so that you could save calories at restaurants. As the mother of a food allergic child things like this make me so mad! All food allergies, no matter what are serious! Fine if some famous person wants go go gluten free because it’s the latest fad, but for some of us, gulten, nut, soy, dairy etc, are life and death! Maybe now that they’ve let Ann Curry go from Today, it will finall die the ignominious death it so rightly deserves. I’m sure there’s a Carnival Cruse with Kathy Lee’s name on it somewhere.

  11. I almost stopped watching The Today Show after the first fail but this made me so mad my head may blow off…are these “talk show hosts” ignorant, idiotic or just grossly insensitive ?

    Let’s go with all 3…and NEVER EVER will they apologize.

    Done and done w/ the today show
    (I’ll tell you one thing…Robin Roberts from Good Morning America would NEVER be so glib about a health issue)

    I tweeted them…

    1. These two bubble heads in question are just self absorbed alcoholics. I don’t really watch the show but the tv is on in the morning while I’m baking. I frequently walk over and shut the damn thing off when these two come on because they are just so stupid and trivial. I still can’t believe every morning they’ve got a drink in their hand on national television. EVERY MORNING! My husband was home sick one day and I said ” you’ve got to see this! These women are drinking every morning on this show!” he couldn’t believe it either. Now, it’s not that we don’t drink, we do! Thank god Vodka is gluten free (yea) but at 10am??? Never.

  12. Omg. This is coming from two hosts on a show who drink wine early in tha morn. Of course they are not going to understand. I cant stand Hoda and Kathy Lee. They are obviously drinking too much if they cant get it right. Retarded drunk old chics!

  13. All so depressing – although plenty of your comments raised a smile!

    I can’t stand the negativity. Even in my pre-coeliac days, I didn’t flinch at the thought of adjusting a dinner party menu or changing food plans to accommodate friends or family of mine who were vegetarian, vegan or had a food allergy. It’s sometimes an extra challenge (I recently met up with a friend who was dairy intolerant, a friend with various fruit allergies, plus gluten-free me – tricky!) but it’s one worth embracing.

    So when chefs and food professionals roll their eyes at dietary requirements, I have to wonder, what kind of chef are you? The kind lacking the creativity to even use (e.g.) cornflour instead of wheat flour to thicken the sauce? The kind who can’t be bothered to whip up a fruit salad for a gluten-free dessert? If you’re so dogmatic about your planned menu, maybe you should choose a less creative career!

    To me, food is all about nurturing people and making them feel warm and fuzzy inside. Not excluding them, telling them they can skip a meal or rolling your eyes in annoyance. It’s not rocket science; it’s having a few gluten-free crackers in your cupboard.

  14. Forget the hostess thing- I don’t care whether someone provides food for me or not. I will happily bring my own. But the way this was portrayed makes people who are unaware, not want to invite us to their parties.

    http://klgh.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12543988-should-hosts-cater-to-restricted-dieters

    It got even worse after this… the part that really drove me crazy is at 7:26 when they say that if you’re going to die because of a PEANUT allergy then thats a whole other story. The issue here is the lack of information regarding the serious side affects other people have. They make it sound like we won’t get sick, we’re just being “picky eaters.” I am SO damn sick of being called a picky eater.

    They then go on to say that it’s embarrassing to be with someone who has to make special requests in restaurants. “Guilt by association” – oh gee thanks. I’m so sorry I have to ask the waiter for no croutons on my salad, etc when I am in a restaurant that is scary for me to be in because my health is in their hands. I apologize for making YOU feel embarrassed, because you know, I really LOVE doing all these things I have to do for my own health.

    And the very end makes it seem like it only matters if you’re going to DIE. Which people don’t associate gluten with death. Ugh. i can’t stand these two.

    1. The Gluten Dude

      They truly are idiots…at least in this segment. But my guess, because I don’t watch them, is that this segment is pretty representative of who they are.

  15. Really? After last weeks insensitive comments from KLG about the rude people who have Celiacs (wheat gluten allergy)
    that came to your dinner party and didn’t eat. Are you going to sit there and pretend to care about food labeling?
    Kathy, I hope you or someone you actually care about never develop Celiacs Desise, or Diverticulitis or Diabeeties.
    As long as keep inviting guests you don’t care about you should be fine.

  16. Oh Dude…I just want to vomit up my gluten free lunch! I am pretty much speechless. WAIT a minute…I’m not speechless–YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!!!!!! I mean, isn’t it bad enough having the people that we eat with not understanding Celiac and gluten free?!?!?! NOW we have them believing that we are just picky and to LEAVE US OUT of the dinners?????? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

  17. I applaud the Today Show for exposing you hypochondriac frauds! If you don’t want to consume gluten, then stay home! Stop forcing your hippie dietary restrictions on other people. You are not special. Everyone laughs at you and calls you idiots when you go to a restaurant. Go eat a bag of flour!!!

        1. Wow! Perhaps you should take yourself to another site to abuse people that are looking for support! AND…pound some salt while you are at it. Jerk!

    1. We are not hypochondriacs, you are the one that is being ignorant! The death rate in coeliacs (that’s the UK spelling) is double that of the normal population! I was diagnosed when I was 4 and some of my earliest memories involve hospitals and tests. I was so weak I could hardly walk. Toddlers can definitely be hypochondriacs, can’t they? I was obviously faking the pain.

      By the way, those last two sentences were sarcasm. And yes, I do expect someone who thinks coeliacs are hypochondriacs to be stupid enough not to understand sarcasm.

      Okay, that’s my rant over. I hope you read this.

    2. Can I be honest? I kind of feel sorry for you, it seems as though you spend copious amounts of time on the internet trying to get a rise out of people. It’s sad that you apparently have nothing better to do with your time.

  18. This is just disgraceful. I live in the UK and had never heard of Hoda before you mentioned her, so now if someone were to ask me if I knew who Hoda Lee was I’d say ‘she’s the coeliac bully’. Same goes for the Today Show.

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I AM someone who's been gluten-free since 2007 due to a diagnosis of severe celiac disease. I'm someone who can steer you in the right direction when it comes to going gluten-free. And I'm someone who will always give you the naked truth about going gluten free.

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