In the frame of the pilot activity »Improved capacity of food catering providers to provide safe gluten-free products«, we organized a transnational event on 10 March 2022, which took place virtually (live) in four languages ​​simultaneously, in Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian and Romanian, in order to improve the knowledge of caterers and all employees who are likely to be involved in the preparation of gluten-free meals for patients with celiac disease, especially staff in the kitchens of kindergartens, hospitals, schools and elderly homes as well as restaurants and hotels.

A short teaser (1') of the event is available here.

We presented the project, pilot activities of the project and the "gluten-free library", which is available on the platform and contains all our publications, video guides and other educational material created within the European projects LQ-CELIAC, Focus IN CD and CD SKILLS in a cooperation with patient support groups. The same programme in four languages was organized in parallel. A lecture entitled Celiac disease and the importance of a strict gluten-free diet was presented, followed by a brief overview of the legal bases and basics of HACCP and the presentation about the organization of a gluten-free kitchen, the proper selection of gluten-free ingredients and guidelines to prepare a safe gluten-free meal. The psychologist presented psychological aspects of this chronic disease, after that the good practice examples from schools, kindergartens and restaurants were presented. Participants have been very active with the questions. Those who were willing to participate in the quiz at the end of the lectures, and showed their good understanding of the topic and speed, they were rewarded.

National celiac societies from participating countries and our project partner dr. Schär, Europe's largest producer of gluten-free products were active at the special booths, to support the participants and to give answers to their questions.

 In the library you will find our educational material as well as recorded interview with Ms. Emily Hampton, who comes from the British celiac society (Coeliac UK) and is involved in the education and certification of gluten-free diet providers. Emily shared very inspiring and motivating good practice experiences which we can all learn from.

We are very pleased with the attendance, as our event was attended by more than 600 participants, mostly employees in kindergartens and schools, as well as hospitals and elderly homes. Another 2,000 people have visited the recorded version in last days. Feedback we got makes us happy and very satisfied with the event and all the efforts put into its organisation.

We invite you to visit the platform and the recorded event. The virtual event (video) is available at the following link https://glutenfree.collectivibe.com/login  (registration required).

Having excellent experience with the event, we would like to thank once again to the participants who showed that they are willing to learn and upgrade their service, to the organization team, lecturers and provider who helped us make our plans real.

We have also prepared a promotional video to motivate everyone who prepares gluten-free meals or maybe is just deciding to do this step.

You are kindly invited to visit our platform. We wish you a successful preparation of gluten-free meals.