Celiac Disease is an Autoimmune disease which is silently killing an untold number of human beings. People need to be educated about this disease. The Today show has on multiple occasions insulted and belittled the Celiac and Gluten Intolerant community and encouraged the belief that Gluten Free is just a fad diet or some trendy new thing and not a serious Autoimmune disease.
Dear producers of the Today Show, The Celiac and Gluten Intolerant Community has been deeply hurt by the opinions expressed by your on air team. In the case of Hoda Kotb not only did she say GF men were not attractive, in her apology she called us "The Gluten People" which struck our already offended community as derogatory. The problem is lack of education. While Celiac disease and Gluten Intolerance are more widely known today than 5 years ago that knowledge doesn't seem to have spread to your program. 1 in 133 people have Celiac disease. Some people are silent Celiacs and don't realize Gluten a protein found it wheat, barley, rye, and spelt is quietly destroying their intestines. Some Celiacs can feel the pain but are still wrongly diagnosed. The more people are educated the better chance Celiacs are diagnosed before permanent potentially fatal damage is done. This disease can kill slowly and painfully. It is not a laughing matter. Especially for the children affected. Please consider these children with Celiac disease must be 100% gluten free. This includes hidden gluten. Hidden gluten might be for example an additive used as a filler. These children must be protected from cross contamination. Parents of non-Celiac children don't understand that fact. Shows that promote the idea it is just a fad cause parents of non-Celiac children to be unaware that feeding a Celiac child a regular cookie could put the child in the Emergency room. Mocking Celiacs on your program can cause the children who watch to mock their Celiac classmates. A child with an Autoimmune disease has enough problems without adults encouraging children to mock them for being ill.
Celiac disease is a life long condition. Celiacs can not cheat on their diet without serious repercussions.
We would like your program to treat this as a serious topic and not a fad diet. We would like to see you interview a Doctor who knows that Celiac Disease is a disease. That would be the greatest apology you could give.
