Why is gluten free food so expensive?

Finefoot

My main issue is that when I am out I can no longer get gf sandwiches , Boots used to do them but they suddenly just stopped one day.[/QUOTE]

So did M&S!

I use corn tortillas as wraps now - look out for the branded ones on offr instead oof supermarkets own. Check the labels, you will see what I mean.

Kelticfox

I'm the Coeliac husband of Anniemf2508 and here's my 2p (wall of text incoming!)

A lot of Gluten Free food tastes like crap. Its made even worse with the attached price tag. There I said it!
As someone who was diagnosed 2 years ago I remember the joy of bacon butties, pork pies, MacDonalds (hell I didn't even eat it, but I would give my left arm for one now!), and as such I always had the memories of soft toasted bread, not something you could throw across a room and decapitate someone with!

Here's a few hints:

Join Ceoliac UK, for membership it costs £10 a year and you will get a little dictionary of GF food from relevant shops and makers.

Certain companies aren't in the GF Book. People like Mars aren't in the book as they review their lines at the same time the book is written. Email them directly and they will send a HUGE list of products that are GF.

Variety is the spice of life. I sometimes find myself getting into a rut of eating the same thing over and over and over. Keep a well stocked cupboard of herbs and spices to add a new element to food.

Visit Chinese and Indian supermarkets instead for a lot of things. Herbs, Spices and GF Flours (such as Rice and Gram) are much cheaper then supermarkets as they are staples in Chinese and Indian cooking.

Watch out for hidden surprises. A lot of chocolate and crisps contain gluten. You look at the ingredients of something and you'll simply find yourself going "WHY?!!".

Get a Panasonic SD254 Breadmaker. Its an expensive initial outlay, but from a taste and size point of view totally worth it. I was getting the Glutafin Fibre Bread on prescription but after getting it repeatedly broken by the chemist I was loosing half a 'loaf' (using the term loosely as I don't regard something that is 3 inches on each side a slice of bread!). The breadmaker I get an almost real sized loaf which can be used a lot more, doesn't crumble and tastes better. It will save you money in the log run.

Get Phil Vickery's book! Like now! Go on! (I can still see you! You better be on the Book Peoples website ordering it (£4.99!))

Get a 5 litre Tupperware type pot. This will be your flour storage box. Phil Vickey's book has the recipe and amounts. Dove Farms GF flour I find to be very salty tasting. The recipe in Phil Vickerys book is a blend of Cornflour, Gram Flour, Rice Flour etc and works out MUCH cheaper per kilo then shop bought bagged flour.



In regards to your daughter I would say you have 3 choices:

1. Tell the school to reduce the amount you pay due to you providing some materials
2. Tell the school that you will pay the full amount but not give your daughters prescription to them.
3. Give your daughter Packed Lunches.

Also ask the school how many people in the school have been on Speciality Diets and Cross Contamination courses. At the end of the day something can be 100% GF until some person uses the same chopping board as the sandwiches were made on.

Remember you're the one picking up the pieces at home when your daughter has a coeliac episode. The school just mark it as an absence and go on their merry way.

As a parent and a coeliac I would advise the Packed Lunch route, simply because of the cross contamination. Your daughter could have a Coeliac episode and you'll always wonder was it the schools fault. I know it sucks for you daughter, but make her lunches interesting so she becomes the envy of her friends. Sushi, Rice Noodle Salads, Vegetable Salads, Pasta...... the world is your oyster (which are also GF )

Tell me how her friends wouldn't be jealous if you gave her this:




If you need any other help give me a shout. I've made a hell of a lot of GF Food, some good, some bad, some I wouldn't even feed a dog!

I'll route out the various companies emails I've received and stick them on MSE!

Fivenations

Can you make my lunch?

Seriously, I got into bento making after being diagnosed with fructose malabsorption - I have to avoid wheat and any food containing fructans or high in fructose and I'm also lactose intollerant. It wa a bind at first but you soon get into routine.

Two websites I've found very useful are:

http://lunchinabox.net/faq/ and http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics

I tested negative for coeliac but have since found that the test may have been invalid as I had been gluten free for nearly three months when I took it. If I want to retake it I need to start eating wheat for 6 weeks beforehand and I'm not keen on putting myself through that unless I really have to! Is it worth being officialy diagnosed? I'm coping OK at the moment, apart from the odd slip up when I forget to check ingredients when eating out.

scaty

Well said Kelticfox.
I found out I had Coeliacs when i tried to give blood. never had such a fuss around me!
Agree with taste, price and availablity of things. I do wonder if some companies think that we are sooo desperate for GF food that we will eat anything!!

Join the Coeliac Society - very helpful people and there maybe a group in your local area. Went to tasting sessions in Cardiff and Bridgend.

It can be a nightmare trying to stay ridgidly to the diet - a friend thought she had the dinner sorted but stirred my sepparate pot with the same spoon - spent more than a penny that night !

I know some people roll their eyes and think it must be a fad but the long term consequences - increased possibility of anaemia, osteoporosis, bowel problems just to name a few are no joke. having a DEX scan and seeing the state of my bones at 45 was a bit of a shock and made me take my calcium tablets with a bit more conviction!

I haven't tried 'Approved Foods' but will certainly be looking at the site after this post.

I always keep an eye out for the reduced pile - had some luckies there.;)

modgit

wow have been a coeliac for 12 years ad never heard of approved foods! am running off to place an order....

Kelticfox

Fivenations wrote: »

I tested negative for coeliac but have since found that the test may have been invalid as I had been gluten free for nearly three months when I took it. If I want to retake it I need to start eating wheat for 6 weeks beforehand and I'm not keen on putting myself through that unless I really have to! Is it worth being officialy diagnosed? I'm coping OK at the moment, apart from the odd slip up when I forget to check ingredients when eating out.

I understand your point..... and its a bit of a !!!!!!. You need the Gluten anti-bodies in your blood stream as thats how they confirm it. Have a word with your Doc and she what they say. Once confirmed Coeliac you can get 4 units of GF stables a week.
For context 1 unit is:
1 loaf of bread
500gms pasta
1 box of biscuits
1 box of cake mix
1 box of bread mix
2 pizza bases

I normally get the bread mixes unless I'm running low on Pasta. On another note you can get your repeat prescription through EMI Access as well (allows you to make repeat prescriptions or appointments online. Ask your docs surgery for info).

The biscuits I find to be a bit bland, plus as a treat I get GF biscuits from Waitrose (12% discount because of Mrs working there), though there are some VERY nice chocolate orange wafer biscuits from Tesco's (called NoWheat and cost 89p a pack).

AF is a god send! So far we've had bread, bread mix, the chocolate cake mix, croissants, breakfast rolls, pasta, buscuits, crispy rice bars, cracker breads (kinda like ryvita), pot rice (yuck), brownies, baguettes (about 45 cm long! and were gorgeous!). TBH I'd love to know where they get the stuff. We order so much GF stuff from there we actually get emails when they stock GF stuff now!


If you get bored with the Chocolate Cake mixes make muffins! You can add Chocolate chunks, Orange Zest and juice, coconut, nuts, glaze cherries, dark cherries (almost like a GF Black Forest Gateau Muffin!). List is only limited by your imagination! Hell even a touch of chilli would work!


I have a job trial with a michelin starred chef on Monday as his Assistant...... oh the ideas I could gleam then!

paulwf

Has anyone with a mild intolerance to gluten (not full coeliacs) tried baking with spelt flour? It has a low gluten content and is a traditional grain variety, not the modern commercial types with a high gluten content. Due to commercial bread making processes the flour they use has a even higher gluten content...no wonder people are intolerant to it in such high does.

Just about to read Not On The Label Again by Felicity Lawrence...

Little_Vics

I'm quite lucky because I can stomach (no pun intended) the spelt pasta found in the whole foods section of Tesco - it's scrummy!

Kelticfox

Right..... finally got the motivation to set up a Coeliac Blog.

My aim is (at least) 1 new entry a day containing a new Gluten Free yummy thing!
Looking kinda bare at mo, but that will change over time.

soolin

paulwf wrote: »

Has anyone with a mild intolerance to gluten (not full coeliacs) tried baking with spelt flour? It has a low gluten content and is a traditional grain variety, not the modern commercial types with a high gluten content. Due to commercial bread making processes the flour they use has a even higher gluten content...no wonder people are intolerant to it in such high does.

Just about to read Not On The Label Again by Felicity Lawrence...

Spelt has a higher than normal gluten content and it is the reactive gluten that makes it a good sturdy flour and is absolutely deadly to coeliacs.
http://nutrition.about.com/od/grainsandcereals/p/spelt.htm