I'm new on here - been gluten free for about 3 years now (not coeliac per GP test - but very gluten intolerant) . I just want to see if you are having the same issues as myself. I have started to notice how much smaller the 'free from' aisles are getting in supermarkets, as vegan diets seem to be more important than people who don't actually have a choice with their diet. One supermarket I visited a couple of weeks ago used to have 3 sections of freezers dedicated to free from - now down to one as the vegan section took up 2 - and my choice of food was 5 types of gluten free pizza - and not a lot else. I sadly really enjoy my free from fish fingers and chicken nuggets - neither of which I could buy. It's funny that I am sometimes told to look at the vegan food as it's classed as free from - but a lot of it is loaded with gluten! It's quite sad that some of the free from fresh foods have also been reduced, so when I used to be able to buy something I could eat quickly (like a g/f quiche or a g/f sandwich) there's nothing.
I was so disappointed with my usual store, that I am now changing the supermarket where I shop .
Anyone else had to do the same?
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meggiemog
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I hear you, yes and agree most definitely. Morrisons free from is still quite large choice I think for frozen and fresh food. Regarding gluten free fish fingers etc. I noticed that Iceland warehouse (UK) has just started stocking some gluten free “branded” frozen food! I tend to stick with plain fish but gf fish fingers are nice when can have them.
They all seem to merchandised together these days. Potentially dangerous because the vegan stuff tends to be packed with stuff like seitan, which is wheat protein. There is also a notion going around that cooking stuff 'removes' gluten. This is very disturbing.
Oh Meggiemog, this is one of my pet peeves. After my nearest Aldi had a refurb this year, I visited for the first time and they had 8 frozen facings for vegan food, but none for gluten/wheat free. I asked a member of staff and he told me that 'free from' was now spread around the store. FFS as if it isn't hard enough? I complained to HO and got a completely inappropriate reply which clearly did not understand the issue. Yesterday, I visited a Costa with my daughter & granddaughter, supposedly as a treat. They both had delicious smelling cheese toasties followed by pastries. Me, I got a cuppa. No savoury options of any kind. At least they had enough nouse to put my tea on a different tray. Of course, they had a vegan 'turkey' sandwich though. I will be contacting Costa today to express my disappointment. You could almost imagine that they think we do this for fun! My previous visit to Costa was tomato soup for breakfast! The only option apparently. They really could do better, when little independents can do it.
IAs stores ramp up their Christmas offerings the shelves become more devoid of Gluten Free products. Having said that well done to M and S for their gluten free bread sauce which makes for less cooking on the big day. Plus their bread range is very good all year around. Wishing you all a good Christmas.
I have to say I entirely agree with you, sadly due to mobility issues I don’t get to supermarkets much but my husband checks stuff out for me and tells me how bad it is now. I do a weekly click n collect shop and have noticed a decline in the availability of many items. I know I won’t necessarily be popular for stating that I am a human being, therefore an omnivore and I don’t want to eat vegan food, chemically produced and as on the label ‘plant based’, ‘based’ not entirely!! It seems that now the fad for thinking GF as a ‘healthy’ option has passed we have become less important. Personally whatever my diet ‘choice’ I would prefer cooking from scratch but unfortunately for me that is no longer possible. I get so frustrated with this situation, I am not coeliac by choice, I would give anything not to have to eat GF, and I would be much better off too; as a pensioner it is a big chunk out of my food budget and we no longer get any help at all with basics on prescription. Sorry for the long rant but this is such a big issue for me and I’m sure for many other coeliacs and NCGS sufferers.
If I do an online shop, I usually do Ocado. It tends to be more expensive, but there is always some kind of discount available. They have the entire M&S Gf range available. Also, to date, I have never had anything missing or substituted. Prescription is available in my area, but I don't qualify. My reaction was there but below clinical parameters for coeliac.
Sadly I agree with your experience. Vegan seems to be the new buzzword in town and gluten free is old hat. My husband came home from Tesco last week with a loaf of bread for me that cost 4 euro and was in the 'free from' section .... sadly it was not free from gluten.
Totally with you on this one meggiemog. I am so fed up with supermarkets in general jumping on the vegan wagon - being vegan is a lifestyle choice, being Coeliac or gluten intolerant is not, it is a health condition requiring safe and adequate choices. I have lost count of the times I have written to the major league players, either to have a generic reply or worse still, no reply at all. It is all linked to how much profit they can turn by stocking products for the latest fad. I do find Morrisons shelf section and their freezer section reasonable in choice. Tesco seems to be diminishing week by week in the freezer section and now in my branch which is a huge superstore, is now only 2 or 3 racks in the freezer, all mixed in with other vegan stuff. I think we need to get together and bombard the big league players with more letters. Rant over!!
I have got quite angry - especially if I'm hungry. It's frustrating when your friends have a choice of 20 sandwiches and you are lucky if you find one (and it's usually cheese .....)
It get 'hangry' too!!! The times I have taken food out with me as a back up!! Can remember one garden place my hubby and I visited and thought we'd have some lunch in their swanky cafe only to find they had nothing for me. Luckily I had some Schar g/f custard creams with me so I could have them with the coffee we'd bought only to have a member of their staff come over and say if I wanted to eat my own food I had to go outside of the cafe otherwise they would levy a 'service charge'!!!! I was incandescent with rage! Not only could they not provide anything, they wanted to charge me for the privilege of parking my bum on their seat, despite the coffees we'd bought and hubby had a slice of cake!
I love them custard creams! They have saved me a few times! I try to find places that do jacket potatoes and if the fillings appear a bit iffy then I just have butter in them. I mean how hard is it to have something wrapped like Schar biscuits for their g/f customers? I am lucky to have some good local cafes close by that do some awesome gluten free, including one that make their own very yummy bread rolls. I also have a local butcher whose wife is coeliac - all their sausage meat is g/f
Custard creams are one of the building blocks of life!! At least more cafes and similar places are improving and becoming more aware. We have a little tea shop in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire which has a dedicated g/f menu now and it is a godsend! Also, in Tenby, there is a wonderful fish and chip shop called Fecci's. The owner is Coeliac so fully understands. They have dedicated fryers for Coeliacs and serve the most glorious fish and chips all year round! Whereabouts are you located meggimog?
I am in North Cumbria - I have been to Tenby a couple of times - got some amazing gluten free food there in quite a few places! We have a cafe near us in Keswick called Laura in the Lakes and their gluten free rolls and soups are amazing! There's also a pasty shop where they sell gluten free homemade pasties too.
I like crimbles the little soft coconut cakes,usually around £1-15 for a little tray of them you can get them with a jammy ring in the middle or chocolate coated too. I like just the gluten free plain ones. Did you know all of m&s sausages are gluten free?
I like Mrs Crimbles too, and yes, did know about the M&S g/f sausages. That is one item that seems to have been taken on board by all the major supermarkets - Morrisons and Tesco's are also g/f in the main, and the Co-op too. Don't know about Waitrose as there isn't one near us, or a Sainsburys. Things slowly improving!!
the day I had my blood test for coleac I went to Waitrose as I had fasted and it had been two hours since test and driving back home then to Waitrose. I was very hungry so I opted for Mac and cheese and asked could I please have a portion chips instead of the bread with it as I was gluten free,they’ve did this before for me and I really enjoy it,it’s my treat occasionally.
Well she got all stressy oh I don’t think we can do that I said well you usually do so she said I’ll go and ask the kitchen,came back no they’ll do me a portion of chips instead of bread but I’ll have to pay for them,I said but why should I pay when I’ve explained why I can’t have the bread surely you can substitute especially when I spend so much here weekly,No was the reply.so I said ok well what can i have that’s gluten free, she said I think there might be some cereal bars at the front there that may be gluten free I’m not sure..By this time I was well and truly ticked off and said you def don’t cater very well for people who have dietary needs do you there’s a distinct lack of awareness there Waitrose. Makes you wonder if the staff are trained on nut allergies too very worryin* isn’t it .. anyway I was battered and bruised enough and just left went home made a cuppa and a boiled egg in my safe wee world but I’m still angry about it and def won’t eat there anymore.
Doesn't mac and cheese have gluten in? Macaroni is usually made from durum wheat? I once made the mistake of eating cheese Doritos and ended up with a banging head - so many things where you think these are corn chips - why do they have gluten in?!
Yes meggiemog you are correct but I was still on the gluten trial for testing and that was to be my last gluten meal till I resumed gluten free again after that,a kind of self inflicted torture I know but it was to be my last until I could learn to cook up an alternative Mac and cheese which I will now. I’m the same with corn snacks my body can’t seem to break down most things now.I’ve got pernicious anemia and struggle with my food unless I cook from scratch ,I have low or no stomach acid so everything’s problematic unless it’s very basic. Any kind of lemon,lime orange or apple juice burns like mad too so trying to raise my stomach acid to help digestion is torture too.Sometimes I fall by the wayside and think just this once won’t hurt and of course it always does,I never learn..No more gluten at all for me from now on.. x
I think to an extent, gluten free people benefited from people choosing to eat gluten free for health reasons. A lot of them have gone back to gluten, because they weren't intolerant and discovered it wasn't a weight loss diet, which has just reduced the market for GF food again.
It's frustrating, we just shop around more which means the supermarkets that used to get the lion share of my pounds get about half my business now.
I have found that buying from some s markets is a waist of time.
Morrisons is very good on a whole but not the best.
Because of me the whole family went gf for my safety which i am very grateful. It turned out my wife also felt better without having coeliac so probs she is gluten intolerant. However we started using Ocado to get deliveries and find that the choice is very good. You have to check still but once you have a favourite list done it’s quick and easy to re order.
Too many veg and vegan stuff I know I could rant on about people choices vs our life changing needs. This is all down to the number of veggie and vegan choosers spending their pounds over us desperate coeliacs. Should be a law!!
Stay safe eating in or more important risking eating out and never cheat or give in to temptation! the consequences are much worse than missing out.
I often find my hubby saying gluten free food tastes just as good if not better than the gluten option. Managed to get all my gluten free Christmas goodies from 3 different stores - it should be one - but the big Sainsburys near me is fairly good - I'd say I got 85% of my stuff in there. I made a mistake of buying these toffee tartlets instead of mince pies ...... oh dear!!! (They taste WAY too good 😍 )
I think I go for the middle ground as I work full time and want quick things to make and eat sometimes. When I do get time I love to bake and I have always loved cooking fresh food. I tend to find weekends just fly by!
I totally understand. I have never been into baking, except for bread, until I was diagnosed with Celiac. That pretty much ended my bread baking. I tried alternatives for a while, without success and then my husband tried, with some success. Then I discovered that I cannot have any grains and that ended any endeavor for baked goods. It's been almost 7 years and I don't miss any of it anymore and don't spend money on high priced substitutes. I have found that sticking to simple whole foods is my best bet for better health. For example, baking salmon along with a sweet potato and adding steamed vegetables is pretty simple.
I think you hit the nail on the head. It's the new diet and is so processed it's scary! It's obviously a good profit maker for the supermarkets. I have noticed that these foods are still cheaper to buy than anything on the gluten free shelves. However I am very happy that Baxters have brought out more of a range of gluten free soups which is possibly due to the veggie / vegan market and they have added to my easy lunch options for work.
If only the supermarkets would also start to strip palm oil out of their products. It’s not at all good for us or the orangutans etc but it’s just everywhere in the supermarket supply chain, except at Iceland where I rarely shop.
I must admit I have never really shopped at Iceland - there isn't one near where I live or work - so it's not somewhere I have even considered. The super cheap chains such as Lidl and Aldi are OK for fruit and veg, but I can't get bread or rolls in there. It may seem quite lazy, but I like to get all of my shop in one shop, myself and my gluten guzzling hubby!
yes. Vegan is full of gluten and chemicals! & I throw up if I accidentally eat genetically modified foods. It should not be legal, in Florida, America. The selections are catering to “ vegan “. Rarely is it organic and very rarely gluten free.
I am not good after foods containing MSG - literally goes straight through me. Not pleasant! It's sad that we, who do not have a choice are having our food choices depleted by fashionable junk food. I visited an ASDA store that used to have a wonderful choice of g/f foods. Now 2 stands that used to contain g/f has been replaced by meat free food, a lot that contain gluten, MSG and other ingredients I would personally not consume. It makes it difficult to just throw something into your shopping trolley without reading every item to make sure you haven't picked up the wrong thing!
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