The Disney Channel pulled a recent episode of teen sitcom 'Jessie' off air following complaints from parents that said the episode poked fun at a character, who was on a gluten-free diet.
In the episode 'Quitting Cold Koala,' the teen nanny, Jessie, takes care of a child named Stuart, who suffers from celiac disease and is the butt of jokes because of his gluten-free diet. One of the characters in the sitcom even says, "You call me sweetie again, and you'll be eating some gluten-free knuckles."
In another scene one character throws pancakes at Stuart and says, "Gluten!"
Following complaints, the official Facebook page of the Disney Channel issued an apology statement: "To our viewers, we received your feedback about tonight's 'Jessie' episode which some of you accessed early on Video-on-Demand. We are removing this particular episode from our regular programming schedule and will re-evaluate its references to gluten restrictions in the character's diet. Please accept our apologies for the upset this episode caused you and your family. We value your feedback and thank you for watching Disney Channel."
Viewers suffering from the disease were deeply hurt by the jokes. "There were tears in my daughter's eyes, and my son's fist was clenched (when they were watching the episode)," Amy Raslevich, whose two children suffer from celiac disease, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Celiac disease, which is a digestive disease, causes damage to the small intestine and stops the body from absorbing nutrients from food.
Celiac disease patients are advised to stay away from gluten foods such as wheat, rye and barley. In case if they eat it, their immune system destroys tiny projections on the small intestine called villi. Without villi, people tend to become malnourished despite eating proper food.
According to a study, around 1.8 million Americans suffer from celiac disease and 1.4 million people are not aware of the disease.
"The first year (after diagnosis) was literally like a death," Raslevich said. "That's the best way for me to describe it. They went through all of the stages of grief. There's nothing else that they can do, and they aren't going to outgrow it. It was tough, and it still is."
