New Zealand’s gluten-free bread, reviewed and ranked

Summer reissue: A definitive answer to a burning question: what is the best gluten-free bread of them all? First published October 21 2020 Outside of coeliac circles, not many people know that gluten-free bread is actually better than regular bread. It’s true.* After years of fastidious experimentation and perfecting, gluten-free bakers have now produced a … Read more

New Zealand’s gluten-free bread, reviewed and ranked

A definitive answer to a burning question: what is the best gluten-free bread of them all? Outside of coeliac circles, not many people know that gluten-free bread is actually better than regular bread. It’s true.* After years of fastidious experimentation and perfecting, gluten-free bakers have now produced a product vastly superior to its wheat-filled counterpart. … Read more

Food product recalls are on the rise – but how much is slipping through the cracks?

From metal-spiked muffin splits and toxic fish to potentially fatal peanut traces, recalls have increased nearly four-fold in recent years. It’s a sign the system is working, but when it comes to transparency around what’s in our food, critics say New Zealand lags behind.  Before putting an item in her shopping basket, Simone Antcliff reads … Read more

WTF is Quorn and why did it make me hurl? A search for the (fake) meaty truth

After a bite of schnitzel sends her running to the toilet, Julie Hill dives into the murky world of Britain’s favourite meat substitute. It was late in the evening and my stomach was empty. I was on my way home after a slightly depressing trip to the hospital, hungry but too weary to cook from … Read more

Where is the compassion for parents of children with allergies?

Exhausted parents of children with severe allergies have been verbally beaten up on Facebook after sensational articles about birthday cake bans at pre-schools whipped some Stuff commenters into a frenzy. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes spoke to Malena Penney, a mum of children with allergies. It seems like such a bizarre thing to get worked … Read more

The least fun parenting game there is: Guess that rash!

It’s almost a rite of passage when you’re parenting small ones – what caused the violent rash spreading over your child’s hands and face? Donnelle Belanger-Taylor was surprised to find the source of her child’s week-long rash might be in your backyard.  Send your kids outside, they said. It’ll be good for them, they said. Get … Read more

A meal out could kill my husband. Why do so few restaurants seem to care?

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders have serious food allergies, and hundreds are hospitalised each year, often because hospitality staff have mistakenly served them something they’re allergic to. A new law was supposed to stop that happening – so why has so little changed? When my husband, who is allergic to dairy products – like, … Read more