I recently received an email from Italy, from Caroline Hamilton, an Australian freelance journalist who lives and works in Italy – and we then had the following exchange.
It would be very interesting to know whether any of you agree with our reading of the situation in Italy – and in the UK – and how that might relate to other countries in Europe. All contributions would be welcome!
‘I came across your email while looking to find out more about gluten free product labelling in the UK. I’m researching a story that came out of my experience over the weekend talking to a number of small, artisan Italian brands making gluten free pastas, biscuits and other products.
They are all interested in exploring the UK market however many of them were reluctant to have an official seal of approval (by this I mean any mentioned of the words ‘Gluten Free’ on the packaging, or indeed the use of the internationally recognised logo for GF, for example). This really made me curious since I know from first hand experience living in Australia and the UK that producers are usually extremely keen to have these kinds of markers on their packages, and they see the difference in their sales.
By contrast, these Italian producers seemed to feel that their FreeFrom foods should be recognised by the customer first and foremost as high quality and nutritionally sound and that any Freefrom claims would be known by those who needed to know. In particular when asked about official labels they told me they thought this was simply a way of taking money from the pockets of honourable food producers who were doing their best with limited resources (as mentioned, these were small/medium businesses not the big Italian brands). They just weren’t interested. This really baffled me because in the UK the Freefrom label is a huge attraction in the marketplace.
I just wondered if you had any reflections on this from the UK perspective? Could this be a fundamentally difference approach to food culture or do you see it as part of a market in change? Perhaps in 5 years from now Italy will have it’s own Free From awards!’
To which I replied:
‘Good to make your acquaintance!
An interesting observation – and my suspicion is that it has a lot to do with food culture. Although my understanding is that Italians are quite health obsessed, they are even more food obsessed – but in a good way. By which I mean that that they understand, respect and love food, and the way that it is grown and prepared. And whatever health benefits a particular food may also confer, the important thing is its provenance and its taste.
Although of course there are some Brits and Australians who do the same, they are relatively few. Historically, in the UK at least, we lost our connection with real food during the industrial revolution of the 18th century when the majority of working people left the land for the cities where most of their food was not cooked at home but bought on the streets. The separation was reinforced by the social mores of the Victorian/Edwardian eras which banished any woman with the most modest social aspirations from the kitchen. Food shortages, wars and rationing during the mid 20th century just compounded the issue.<
Post Elizabeth David and the resurgence of artisan food production over the last 30-40 years some of us have learnt to appreciate ‘real’ food better – but it is a ‘learned’ appreciation, not an organic one as it is in Italy and other countries of southern Europe. And it is only some of us.
For most people, food is something that you buy in a supermarket, ready made. These people have little idea of how to cook – or why one should cook if one can buy food ready made. Their parents didn’t know how to cook and schools don’t teach them how to cook.
Moreover, the supermarkets, by focusing for the last 50 years on price, have conditioned the customers to do the same. So most food shopping in this country is based on price and convenience, not on the quality of the food.
Health is a crucial consideration in terms of diet – trend forecasters going back 30 years always point to ‘healthy’ as being one of the leading trends. But while an Italian housewife would always assume that good food was intrinsically healthy, I think that a Brit (and maybe an Australian too) sees health in food as a bit of an ‘add on’.
So, to get back to your original query, a ‘health tag’ on a food is seen as a good marketing move in the UK. And thanks to a slightly odd combination of circumstances (the growth of genuine allergy sufferers/coeliacs, the growth of self diagnosed food intolerants and the growth of those who actually see ‘freefrom’ food as being cleaner and healthier in many respects) ‘freefrom’ has now become equated with ‘healthy’ – or even ‘health giving’ eating. Which is why so many manufacturers are not only launching freefrom brands but are wanting to crow about it by entering free from awards, getting freefrom recognition, using freefrom logos etc.
For an Italian I suspect that adding a ‘health’ logo could be regarded as somewhat of an insult – are you suggesting that our food is not healthy then? Our food is good food – so why do we have to add ‘healthy’?…’
You will be amused to know that the discussion continued but with more of a focus on awards – and that we are now looking at the genuine possibility of Caroline launching FreeFrom Food Awards in Italy.
Very interesting. Your diagnosis of the difference between UK and Italian attitudes to food sounds spot on although, with the rise of supermarket culture, the price to quality balance may be shifting. Assuming your analysis is correct food awards based on the free from concept may not do too well in Italy?
I did wonder with your earlier blog on trying to find gluten-free food in Paris whether this was an example of France interpreting EU regulations differently from the UK. The fourteen allergens of which food manufacturers, caterers etc have to be aware was I thought an EU wide agreement. It took a few months here for the regulations to bed in and for food manufacturers, caterers etc to feel comfortable with them, but it now seems to work well. I wonder if the French and the Italians have not implemented the regulations so rigorously!
I wouldn’t even pick up a package in the supermarket unless it had ‘Gluten free’ or similar on the front because I know I can’t eat 95% of processed foods. And my intolerances towards some foods are so severe, I’d be putting my life in danger to eat something I’m not utterly sure of. Remind them of the danger element for their customers.
I certainly think that the French are honouring the regulations more principle than in practice – indeed that they really rather disapprove of them! My feeling is that the Italians are more sympathetic to the need for freefrom food but they struggle slightly with the concept as they see that need as slightly devaluing the lovely healthy food that they produce. The Brits on the other hand, as with most EU regulations, stick with them pretty closely. Another of the bizarre-itudes of Brexit!!
Very interesting, and agree with a lot of what you say. I’m a second-generation Italian, and I wonder whether there’s an element of defending the ‘honour’ of wheat in the Italian attitude too.
In the UK there is a lot of trashing of wheat and gluten, which isn’t prevalent in Italy, and Italians are rightly proud of their traditional wheat-based products, such as pastas and breads. Might they also be more sensitive to the perceived criticism on such foods some might infer from ‘GF’ and wheat-free labelling?
I wonder whether these niche producers feel there’s no need for them on their products as there’s no need for ‘rice free’ or ‘corn free’ on wheaten goods. If their motivation for producing rice cookies or corn / chestnut pastas or whatever is simply because that’s what they grow themselves, or can easily source locally, then ‘free from’ qualities aren’t a priority for them – as you say, taste and provenance are king.
Good point about independent free from seal of approvals too – but not only ‘ are you suggesting our foods are not healthy?’ – but also ‘can’t you see from the ingredients that there’s no wheat – are you saying we allow cross-contamination / our ingredients aren’t pure?’ ….
I am sure that your last point is absolutely right, Alex.
‘What kind idiots are you that you cannot read an ingredient label? Do you know nothing about food?’
Which, of course, for all too many UK shoppers, hits the nail on the head. No, they don’t know much about food – which is why they have to be lead by the hand and told whether or to a food is ‘safe’ for them to eat.
Interesting and insightful Michelle and I agree with your insights, having travelled and eaten in Italy and spoken with some small-scale Italian food producers. I especially agree with your thoughts about the food culture contrast and description of some of the elements of the UK food culture.
I do see the same attitude, meaning de-emphasis or even reluctance to feature free-from credentials, in the UK market too. Three examples come to mind. All restaurants.
The first and best known is the famous one of Dominic at Indigo keeping the fully gluten free and dairy free menu almost secret until he was sure the dishes were simply *great* rather than *great* despite being gluten and dairy free. Sure, he then went public and that has been a phenomenon, but his caution appears similar.
Two other examples are of Farmstand and Wild Food Cafe, both in Covent Garden. Both are 100% gluten and dairy free. This barely features in their promotional material and social media however. I know the owners / managers of both prefer not to emphasise the free-from criteria because they want to be better known for the quality of their food and service.
Interesting debate!
As for UK food culture, I think it’s not quite true – or perhaps a big generalisation – to say we lost our connection with real food and that connection with real food is learned (by that I take it you mean not passed down from parents).
I’m 60 and grew up in the 60s and 70s. We lived in an urban area – the Black Country. My mother was typical of most of the mothers of my friends and the women in her family (this is not to be sexist against men, but at that time we knew no men who cooked). Women in our community cooked from scratch.
In our household, which my parents would have described as lower middle class, we didn’t have a freezer, and I can even remember our first fridge. My mother shopped almost daily – we had local butchers, greengrocers, Blackheath market and grocers for other foodstuffs. Puddings and cakes were made, not bought. I can only remember my mother buying biscuits weekly, battenburg cake occasionally, and a Tunis cake at Christmas.
This was not untypical, everyone I knew cooked from scratch. The staple cookbook in many people’s households was Be-Ro – I still have and use my mother’s and my grandmother’s. Therefore I knew how to cook from my mother’s knee, and my kids (one male, one female) learnt in the same way.
Viewers oh the TV show “Back In Time For Dinner” will get a very different impression – convenience foods (as well as mechanical kitchen aids) were available quite soon after the war, but it doesn’t mean they were as popular and universally eaten as much or as early as was suggested. In fact they were rather viewed as not very wholesome.
It was in the 80s that I embraced convenience foods – but rather fleetingly until becoming vegetarian – which then meant eating whole food as well.
Of course, in Britain in those days we didn’t ‘do’ allergies – we said certain foods didn’t suit us, if we recognised anything at all. Things have improved massively in our attitudes in the last 20 years.
As for labelling. I was in Poland with family last week, where they still pride themselves on good quality home cooked food. Although their supermarkets stock everything ours do and more, many people must be buying convenience foods, I just haven’t met them. They have large gluten free sections and even gluten free bakers shops, and there ‘free from’ is a badge of “safety”, like it is here.
At the same time, like in the U.K., many many foods carry a warning that the enclosed food ‘may contain …… then every allergen listed’ despite the fact no allergens are listed in the ingredients. Like in the U.K., people with allergies have to make a judgement, because this warning is, as far as I can see it, a way of getting out of being sued if allergens are present that are not specifically listed. I had this discussion with my cousin only yesterday when she was giving me food to take on the plane and we were squinting to read the labels.
As far as gluten / any allergen free being thought of as especially healthy – I’d certainly debate that idea. It depends on one’s definition of healthy. I tend to disregard the ‘fad’ that gluten free (milk, etc) equates with especially ‘healthy’ – although that notion has meant a better provision of allergy free food and better regulation, I think. Some GF foods contain more fat, sugar and chemicals than their gluten containing equivalents. Too much of that is not considered particularly good.
As far as I’m concerned the GF label means that if I want foods that are not normally gluten free I can identify them easily and be guaranteed that they won’t make me ill. If I can find a restaurant that has guaranteed gluten free foods on the menu (rare, in my experience!) I can eat out when travelling or socially on the odd occasion. Shopping in a hurry without my glasses can be a nightmare – that label can help a lot and prevent wastage (or worse) because I didn’t see one tiny word in the labelling- especially in an unfamiliar language.
When I visit family and friends they can buy food food for me that they know is ‘safe’ – and some even continue to use those brands because they taste really good! The GF label means I don’t have to go into what I can and not eat with all and sundry, who, at least 50% of the time couldn’t care less (i.e. an Indian restaurant in Scotland who assured me everything on the menu was gluten free when quite clearly it was not!).
There are some really excellent GF foods out there by producers who clearly really care.
Sorry this is long!
Hi Jacqui – and thank you for your lengthy comment! Very briefly to respond:
Very interesting what you report about your own family experience in the Black Country. I wonder though, if your experience is the exception, rather than the rule? I would love to think not.
Gluten-Free free being ‘healthy’. No I don’t think that anyone avoiding gluten because of a health problem would see it as being especially healthy. But it seems (if we are to believe the endless surveys that come from market analysts) that most of those who are choosing to gluten free (rather than having to if they do to want to feel ill) do so because they believe it to be healthier.
And certainly I would agree about the gluten (or dairy/nut/egg/soya) free flash being enormously useful when shopping – and cutting down dramatically on that very tedious ingredients list reading…