Short update and a message to my celiac readers

Some excuses why I haven’t been active

Hey to everybody who is (still) reading this blog! I know I haven’t been active in a while, well actually almost a year. But I noticed that people still visit this site and since there a not many alternatives on the internet about gluten-free or wheat-free food in South Korea, I decided not to delete this page. (I pay every month server fees, but if there’s even one person out there who actually reads this blog and is able to have a better time in Korea because of that, I think it’s worth it! Or maybe I should start learning how to make money with a blog harhar). Also I’m working myself through a lot of spam comments every time I come back. I’m still looking for the 2 real comments within 300 or so spam messages, so please be patient with me until I answer! (Or maybe recommend me a spam filtering tool if you know anything for free! haha)

Anyway, you might notice that my English becomes worse in future posts, including this one, and I’m sorry about that. I used to put a lot of time and effort in every single blog post, researching about gluten and getting help from friends and AI to correct my English and stuff. But I think if it comes down to not posting information about gluten-free things because the effort is too much or to writing shorter, maybe a bit messier posts I choose the latter!

To my celiac readers

I’ve also been thinking a lot about the type of people who are reading this blog. As you might or might not know, I am not celiac but gluten intolerant. My worst enemy are soy sauce and products, that are marketed as “gluten-free” but still contain ingredients like gluten-free wheat starch, because I also react to those. (I had a pizza with that a few weeks ago in Itaewon, but that’s another story).
I’m not reacting to traces or cross-contamination and on some days I can even stomach small amounts of gluten (though I barely eat it on purpose) while on other days even the smallest amount knocks me out for days. I know that a lot of you might be celiac and have to be more careful than I have. I’ll try to get as much information as possible, so everybody can feel safe eating the things I’m talking about in this blog, but there are times when I’m introducing cafés or some products which are promoted as “100% rice flour” or something similar. That might make them safe for someone who doesn’t react to traces, but probably not for a celiac person. I will still introduce places like that, but also continue marking them as having possible cross-contact/ cross-contamination.

Don’t forget, though, that even restaurants and cafés which call some of their products “gluten-free” might not be as carefully handling their products as you may hope. Celiac disease and gluten are partly known in Japan and a few people might understand it in South Korea too, but there are far more people who don’t (even though most of them mean no harm!). If the whole store/restaurant only offers gluten-free products and/or has an explanatory description about how they handle or understand gluten, in most cases they are also celiac save. Please still remember though that I am only a third person talking about their “gluten-free”/”wheat-free” experiences. I put a lot of time in research, but I may make mistakes too. (I highly recommend you getting one of those cards which explain gluten intolerance and celiac disease in Korean!)

Also, once I have time, I plan to read through some Korean laws about marking gluten・traces etc. in products and maybe translate some stuff, but time flies and there is always so much to do haha.

I’ve also noticed a lot of you have been interested in gluten-free snacks in Korean convenience stores, and I plan on finding more food, not containing 밀 (wheat).

Anyway, I think my point is, my posts might become more messy and not every “not gluten containing” discovery I make might be celiac-safe, BUT! I will continue giving my best to give you a heads-up at the beginning of every post what kind of information you are getting. I’d still love to get feedback from readers and how their gluten-free/wheat-free journey is going! Not only that, but I would be happy if this could turn into a community where people help each other and exchange information, but let’s see.

Whoever is visiting this page. Thanks for visiting, reading and sometimes commenting. We might not know each other, but it’s good to have you here!