FORTH Valley College’s refectories will be offering a gluten free option on their menus to promote Coeliac Awareness next week.

From Monday to Friday the staff and students in the kitchens at all three FVC campuses will be serving up delicious gluten free dishes to highlight the condition in partnership with the Forth Valley Group of Coeliac UK.

Coeliac disease is a lifelong autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten and it’s thought as many as one person in every hundred is a sufferer. Once diagnosed it is treated by following a gluten free diet for life.

FVC hospitality and salon services curriculum manager, Aiveen Cassidy, said: “We have linked up with the Forth Valley Group to run this successful promotional week for the last nine years previously at the Bistro at Raploch and we are now looking forward to highlighting the condition once again.

"Hopefully we can show just some of the tasty gluten free dishes that are available and teach our cookery and front of house students all about food intolerance that some customers may have.”

Marion Smith, membership secretary, Forth Valley Coeliac UK Group, said: “We are delighted to be working with Forth Valley College once again to raise awareness of this condition.”

City and Guilds Level 3 Professional Cookery student Flynn Hammell-Letham, 18, from Stirling, added: “I am really looking forward to cooking with gluten free ingredients and finding out more about food intolerances.”