McDonalds is a fast food outlet beloved by many, particularly on the mornings after the night before! However, if you are gluten free, whether by necessity or choice, then you cannot join in with the joy of a McDonald’s breakfast or the ever popular Big Mac; at least not without suffering some potentially debilitating side effects.

However, this is the case in the UK and Ireland, but not in other countries. Norway has an extensive gluten free menu in Norway, everything clearly labelled and prepared to avoid cross contamination. It’s a heck of a long way to go for a Happy Meal.

Many will refer to McDonalds as unhealthy, or bad, and yes, as with everything, if you consume too much of it then it is. However, why shouldn’t those with conditions such as coeliac disease, be able to make that Chou e for themselves? If other countries can do it, why not the UK and Ireland? A gluten free diet can be very restrictive when going out to eat, and having a huge company such as McDonalds introducing a GF menu would perhaps encourage other large chains to follow suit.

I am not coeliac. I do not follow a gluten free diet. I don’t even particularly eat at McDonalds. Why, then, have I started this petition? Because there are many people who do, and it seems unfair. Coeliac disease is not uncommon; at least 1 in every 100 people in the UK & Ireland have it, and that’s without taking into account the many people who remain undiagnosed. Veganism is largely a lifestyle choice, and commonly catered for, yet gluten free - which is often not a choice - is not.

This petition may not gain many signatures, but perhaps it might make someone somewhere take note.