There's no such thing as a single "diabetes diet". -- Diabetes proverb.
One of the challenges in preparing food -- or treats -- for a group of people is accommodating everyone's likes, dislikes, and dietary restrictions. Sometimes this is straightforward -- a packaged salad with OU (U in a circle) markings will be acceptable to most observant Jews; similarly, a vegan-certified product will work for most types of vegetarians. Preparing the same food from scratch poses other issues. If all my ingredients are kosher pareve (non-dairy, non-meat) but I cook those ingredients in a pot that once held pork roast, that food is no longer acceptable as kosher -- it has been "contaminated" by whatever molecules of pork that might have remained in that pot (even after a thorough washing).
Now, there are certain limited circumstances in which kosher ingredients poured into that pot would be acceptable for observant Jews to eat -- and indeed, one could argue that it is only faith, not corporeal lives, that would be challenged by eating that food. When it comes to food allergies and autoimmune disorders, though, a level of "contamination" that would be acceptable under religious law could quickly become deadly.
Take cookies, for example. Leaving aside the arguments regarding white, whole wheat, or soy flour, butter or margarine, and sugar or Splenda, baking for a group that includes many people with Type 1 diabetes means planning to bake gluten-free, since 5-10% of people with Type 1 also have celiac). Having seen a "donut cutter" amongst the cookie cutters at one of my favorite baking and candymaking supply shops some months ago, the idea of creating World Diabetes Day cookies entered my mind. As our local World Diabetes Day events approached, I acquired gluten-free baking mix, a gluten-free sugar-cookie recipe, and started to work.
Aside the questions of "how clean do the workspace, cookie sheets, and oven need to be to not contaminate the cookies, there's the question of "How gluten-free are the rest of my ingredients?" Well, the butter-like spread is marked "gluten-free", sugar is sugar, and...
It wasn't until the icing was almost complete that it hit me: vanilla and many other flavorings are often extracted using (drinking) alcohol, and the most efficient process uses alcohol distilled from (you guessed it) grains. So now, not only are those dozens of cookies so carefully made from gluten-free ingredients possibly not gluten-free, but I may have also made them unacceptable to Muslims, Mormons, and people of other faiths which forbid the consumption of alcohol.
So while I pondered the potential fate (or lack thereof) of four dozen sugar cookies, I came to the conclusion that I shall have to visit a Halal (following Muslim dietary law) grocery in search of an appropriate source of vanilla flavoring. Fortunately, we have a few in town, and I've been looking for an excuse to patronize them and increase my understanding of other peoples' faiths and observances.
Meanwhile, after a few of the cookies were sampled at today's group excursion to the New York Historical Society's exhibit on the discovery of insulin, I sent the remainder along with one of our folk who will be attending Sunday's World Diabetes Day events while I will be at work, with a list of disclaimers to make sure our friends understand that I'm still a neophyte at catering to the gluten-sensitive among us.
The bottom line is, I'm trying to do what is right, but how successful I am perceived will depend on what the allowances and limitations are. I hope those who require these considerations will be kind enough to guide me as I learn to sensitize myself to their needs.
