THE FAMILY BARBECUE
The same grill.
Gluten-free food, cooked on a grill that had just been used for something containing gluten. Everyone meant well. The cross-contact hadn’t been considered.
ABOUT PLATESAFE · OUR STORY
A little less worry.
A world to explore.
It started with my wife, a coeliac diagnosis, and a question about China.
Pull up a chair
01
A NEW NORMAL
First, dinner changed.
My wife grew up eating without having to think about food allergies. On our last trip to the USA, she could eat anything she wanted.
Whether she wanted to is another story. I’d call her a fussy eater. She’d disagree.
In the years after that trip, food became a source of stomach trouble. For a long time, we didn’t know why. Eventually, we had an answer: coeliac disease.
It runs in her family. Her mum carries genes associated with it, but still eats gluten. We were learning that the same family history doesn’t mean the same experience.
A little clarity: coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition. It differs from a food allergy, and carrying the associated genes doesn’t mean someone will develop it.
More from Coeliac AustraliaSo we changed the way we ate at home. Out went the gluten-containing ingredients. In came new habits, more label reading, and a lot of learning. I threw myself into understanding what she needed.
Our own kitchen became familiar territory. Beyond our front door, things were more complicated.
02
BEYOND OUR KITCHEN
The tricky part?
Eating everywhere else.
Friends and family wanted to help. Restaurants had gluten-free options. But we kept finding a gap between knowing which ingredients to leave out and understanding how the food was prepared.
It was the little things that made a big difference.
THE RESTAURANT
The shared fryer.
“Gluten-free” on the menu, but the same oil used for foods containing gluten. Two reassuring words didn’t tell us the whole kitchen story.
THE MEXICAN COUNTER
The unchanged gloves.
Moving from a wheat tortilla to her order without changing gloves. Another detail we found ourselves having to explain.
Eating out could take more explaining than anyone expected. Going overseas added unfamiliar ingredients, different kitchens and a language barrier to the mix.
We wanted to enjoy the trip. Working out dinner was becoming a trip of its own.
03 · THE QUESTION THAT STARTED IT
One day, I asked my wife
about going to China.
Her first thought was food.
“What can I even
eat there?”
That question stayed with me. A whole country to explore, and the first hurdle was knowing what dinner might look like.
04
HELLO, PLATESAFE
A place to put
the pieces together.
We have places to look up medical information. Places to research a holiday. I wanted somewhere that brought food, ingredients, allergies and travel into the same conversation.
A place to look up an unfamiliar ingredient, understand a local dish, find the words to explain a food concern, and prepare better questions before sitting down to eat.
That became Platesafe.
It began with gluten and my wife. The idea grew to include people with different food allergies and avoidance needs—and the partners, friends, families and hosts trying to understand them.
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE, ALL CONNECTED
From “what’s that?”
to “what should I ask?”
WHY WE’RE HERE
The world is big.
Your food world shouldn’t have to feel small.
I’m building the resource I wished we’d had: somewhere to begin, learn and feel a little less lost. For my wife, and for anyone who knows the work that can sit behind a simple meal.
With love, a lot of questions,
and a very well-read ingredient label.
The founder of Platesafe
Build your food guideA little knowledge. Honest limits.
Platesafe is a growing information resource. Coverage and review status vary, and recipes and preparation can change. Use it to prepare questions and check details with food providers. It doesn’t certify meals as safe or replace medical advice.
How Platesafe worksREGISTERED BUSINESS
Who runs Platesafe.
Platesafe co is a registered Australian business name held by the partnership F LIE & L.A O'NEILL.
- Business name
- Platesafe co
- Business name holder
- F LIE & L.A O'NEILL (partnership)
- Australian Business Number
- ABN 72 763 342 011
- Support
- support@platesafe.co