Dietary correctness gone mad

 

Fashion retailer Zara has been forced to remove a t-shirt featuring a gluten-free slogan from sale, following a customer backlash.

The garment, with the words ‘Are you gluten free?’, prompted the setting up of an online petition entitled ‘We do not want shirts with offensive messages for people with coeliac disease’ – which received more than 53,000 signatures before being marked as a victory.

Explaining that the slogan “caused me indignation” because the message was not “appropriate”, the petition creator posted, “Coeliac disease is not a fad, nor is it a disease to take it in jest… The message of this shirt trivialises an important health problem.”

On pulling the t-shirt, Zara’s parent company Inditex commented, “We sincerely regret that this case might be interpreted as a trivialisation of coeliac disease, the absolute opposite of our intentions.”

Not only does the t-shirt simply ask a question, rather than display gluten preferences in an ‘offensive’ light, as suggested, but the accusation that it mocks coeliac disease can also be questioned given that the garment doesn’t even mention said disease.

Gluten-free and being a coeliac sufferer, while of course associated, are not the same thing; just as enjoying the occasional meat-free meal and being a dedicated vegetarian are not the same.

Had the t-shirt asked, ‘Are you coeliac intolerant?’ then I wouldn’t question the fallout. But the fact is, the gluten-free market is gaining momentum and not solely as a result of medical reasons; according to Mintel, in the six months to September 2015, 22 per cent of Brits bought or ate gluten-free products. In addition, eight per cent of Brits report avoidance of gluten as part of a healthy lifestyle, compared to five per cent who report avoidance due to an allergy or intolerance.

If the combination of dietary preferences and fashion is coming under fire, Asda should consider itself lucky that it got away with this ‘Say no to sprouts this Christmas’ t-shirt that it sold over the festive period.

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One response to “Dietary correctness gone mad”

  1. Bill Lee says:

    whilst I don’t disagree that this maybe a step too far and any advertising is better than none, however for those of us who are Coeliac, making people aware that there is a big difference between eating a gluten free diet and having Coeliac disease is important.
    The main reason for emphasising the difference is eating food away from home, as you quite rightly say in your article, following a gluten free diet can be like a vegetarian that occasionally eats meat as it does no harm, where as if a Coeliac eats very small particles of gluten they will become unwell.
    Costa is a classic example, they offer gluten free cake but it is on display alongside normal cake, both unwrapped, a Coeliac could not eat that where as someone on a gluten free diet could.

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