A Musselburgh mum whose daughter suffers from coeliac disease has penned an open letter to broadcaster Vanessa Feltz after being left angry at her comments on ITV’s This Morning about the condition.

Kirsty Kerr, 32, lives in Musselburgh with her husband Jamie and five-year-old daughter Isla.

Isla was diagnosed with coeliac in February 2022 and is now totally gluten-free.

Coeliac disease is a condition where the immune system attacks a person's own tissue when gluten is eaten. This damages the gut and the body cannot properly take in nutrients. People with the disease must go gluten-free.

Mrs Kerr said she was left angry by comments made by the presenter who appeared on Monday’s (December 18) episode of This Morning where she offered advice for issues that callers were facing.

One person claimed that she was being forced to have a gluten-free Christmas, because her mother-in-law insisted on the dinner being without gluten to cater to one person, who had coeliac.

In her response, the broadcaster said that the mother-in-law was “treating coeliac disease as if it’s a kind of fatal, potentially fatal peanut allergy” labelling her demands as “unreasonable”.

She suggested that the mother-in-law forcing the entire family to eat a gluten-free meal was not reasonable and that she should be allowing family members to bring their own food.

Mrs Kerr said she had been shocked by the comments and has penned an open letter to Feltz via her Instagram page, which follows Isla’s story and showcases some gluten-free products, inviting her to come to their home on Almond Park for Christmas dinner and experience what their life is like with a daughter with the condition.

The full letter can be viewed on the family Instagram account coeliacmamma.

She told the Courier: “I was really annoyed with the comments and how she just dismissed the condition.

“Since Isla turned one, she suffered from bad stomach aches and vomiting, we had her to the Sick Kids hospital and they weren’t sure what to do. She wasn’t growing properly, it was very scary.

“Finally, our doctors at Riverside Medical Practice tested her and diagnosed her with coeliac last year. She has been gluten-free since March 2022, and she looks so much better. She is bright at school and the staff at The Compass School in Haddington have been brilliant.”

Mrs Kerr explained the difficulty of having a young child with the condition, suggesting that the presenter was not educated on the matter.

She said: “It is hard, thankfully Isla understands. She doesn’t remember what it was like before she had the condition. That makes it easier.

“But we have to cook our meals separately. We are all mostly gluten-free apart from if we have things like a pizza night. But even then, Isla’s pizza has to be cooked first to avoid cross-contamination.

“A crumb would be enough to trigger a response. It’s not anaphylactic shock, she wouldn’t die instantly, but there are serious health risks. She could be hospitalised and at the very least would be very unwell.

“I think a lot of people treat it like being a vegan, when it is totally different. That is a choice, coeliac is not.

“I think perhaps she didn’t quite understand the severity of the condition, and made a mistake. I hope she responds and apologises but I am not hopeful.”

Mrs Kerr also put in a complaint to OFCOM and ITV about the presenter’s comments.

Coeliac charity Coeliac UK has also sent a letter to ITV expressing concern about the comments calling them "disheartening" and seeking a platform to discuss the condition and asking for an apology to be made.

The letter concludes: "We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter further and provide accurate information about coeliac disease to ensure a more informed discussion in the future.

"In the meantime, we ask that you provide an apology to people with coeliac disease on air, to correct the contemptuous and disparaging misinformation included in your programme."