Shared workplace environments and office culture create daily challenges for workers with coeliac disease, according to a new survey.
Among respondents for whom work or university was applicable, two thirds said they had experienced difficulties because of coeliac disease, while 86% said the condition had been treated as a lifestyle choice rather than a serious medical condition.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten, causing the immune system to attack the lining of the gut and leads to symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, fatigue, migraines, joint pain and long-term nutritional deficiencies.
According to Coeliac UK, the condition affects one in 100 people, although an estimated 500,000 people in the UK remain undiagnosed.
Yet despite its prevalence, the findings suggest many people with coeliac disease still feel misunderstood in professional environments.
Younger adults appear particularly affected, with 89% of respondents aged 18 to 24 reporting difficulties at work or university, compared with 61% of those aged over 55.
The findings reflect wider academic research into coeliac in the workplace, with a 2024 Sociology of Health & Illness study finding employees with coeliac disease can face exclusion even in workplaces that promote inclusion.
Researchers pointed to a lack of suitable food at meetings and workplace events and a tendency to treat the condition as a matter of individual dietary management rather than a serious autoimmune condition.
Trainee tax consultant Ella-Jade Smith, 21, said accidental gluten exposure can make ordinary work responsibilities difficult.
She said: “Initially there is a sharp pain in my stomach, almost like I have ingested poison. I will very quickly begin to feel nauseous, anxious, and weak, often like I may pass out.
“As the hours progress, my entire body begins to hurt, and often a migraine is soon to follow.
“Typically, the following morning I will stop being able to tolerate food, even gluten-free food, entirely. My vomiting can continue for days and is usually accompanied with cyclical constipation and diarrhoea.
“Trying to continue with my day-to-day life and responsibilities is incredibly difficult. As symptoms lessen, I am left with what feels very similar to a hangover, and my joint pain worsens.”
In a follow-up workplace survey of UK workers formally diagnosed with coeliac disease, food-centred workplace culture emerged as one of the most common themes throughout.
More than four in five respondents (81%) said they had avoided eating at workplace events because of concerns around cross-contamination.
Respondents also said that workplace meetings, catering, or social events had left them feeling excluded, either frequently or occasionally.
Many respondents described workplace inclusion initiatives that unintentionally left them excluded.
One respondent said: “Companies book a Christmas meal, I pay for a ticket, then realise all I can eat from the menu is poached fish without the sauce and a side salad, while everyone else is eating a full meal.”
Another described corporate events as little more than ‘a sad undressed salad’.
They added: “I cannot trust a corporate catered event. They either forget me, or cross contamination isn’t taken into account, or I get a token that is so depressing I’d rather they didn’t bother.”
Respondents repeatedly described avoiding team lunches, after-work drinks, networking events and office celebrations because they could not be certain food was safe to eat.
Smith said she had reduced her attendance at work socials because they produced ‘a feeling of perpetual otherness’.
She said: “Even when gluten free options are offered, I will typically decline them because while they are gluten-free, I am often sceptical whether they are coeliac safe.
“It seems like less trouble to just avoid eating entirely than attempt to vet the risks of cross-contamination.
“I cannot eat food at events and find it very difficult to integrate, let alone enjoy myself.”
Many respondents also identified everyday workplace environments as a source of risk.
More than half of respondents felt employers do not understand the seriousness of cross-contamination, and more than two-thirds reported feeling unsafe using shared workplace kitchens.
One respondent described hot-desking as a particular challenge.
They said: “People eat sandwiches at a desk and don’t clean it after, leaving crumbs which can then be picked up.
“Also, people use the gluten free toaster or my butter without any consideration.
“I am very much a one-use individual in my work – I will buy something, use it once and then it becomes communal as I can’t trust that no one has contaminated it in the meantime.”
Another respondent said: “The treats people bring in are gluten and touch everything.”
This was reflected in the support scores reported by respondents.
Workers who said colleagues understood cross-contamination reported an average workplace support score of 9.3 out of 10.
Among those who said colleagues did not understand cross-contamination, the average score fell to 3.7.
The survey also suggests that symptom severity can directly affect employment.
Among respondents who described themselves as symptomatic, 41% reported missing work following accidental gluten exposure, affecting attendance and productivity.
One respondent said they regularly leave work to eat lunch at home because the workplace canteen is not safe and is ‘left out of any celebrations that include food because I’m the only coeliac’.
Another summarised their experience more simply: “It’s a very lonely disease.”
For Smith, greater institutional change remains the key objective.
She said: “Perhaps it’s pessimistic, but I don’t think there is much workplaces can do. Society in general doesn’t understand coeliac disease and until that changes, workplaces won’t either.
“Of course, the token gestures of offering gluten-free options at socials, though I don’t take them, are still appreciated.
“I think this is an issue that is much greater than the workplace, and until coeliac is recognised as a disability in the UK, I highly doubt its severity can be understood.”
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