I usually don't get too upset with people when they try to "protect" or "safe" me from myself but when my husband told me about his experience with this remark I was a little more peeved. Here's what happened....
He attended a cooking course recently which was attended by approx. 30 people where the course facilitator remarked more than once during the day about diabetics not being allowed sugar. My annoyance came about for two reasons.
The first is that it's just not true. Believe me - google it. Diabetics are allowed to have sugar, just not too much of it. But that is the guideline for EVERYONE, diabetes or not! Too much sugar is just as unhealthy for people without diabetes as it is for people with diabetes.
The second reason hurt me more because person is considered an expert in their professional field of food and has the ears of a lot of people, and is therefore feeding this myth. At my husband's course 29 people went out into the world reaffirmed that diabetics can't have sugar and ready to impart their new knowledge to any diabetic within radius.
I felt that no matter how much effort we put into diabetes awareness and educating the general public about the facts of diabetes it just take one person who has the attention of many to strike out all that good work. It's frustrating.
My hubby is outstanding though! He decided to write to the two organisations involved; Diabetes Ireland and the cooking school to suggest that they work together to raise some diabetes awareness and to put the course facilitator straight in the nice, polite way that he does things.
Hopefully this person will see that discouraging people with diabetes from enjoying her delicious cakes, puddings and scones doesn't make sense and start delivering facts instead of myths. I'm always the optimist.