The Gluten-Free Guarantee - My Supermarket Survey

This year for Coeliac Awareness Week Coeliac UK are focusing on the availability of gluten-free products in supermarkets. They know how frustrating it can be for Coeliacs having to shop in various different supermarkets rather than just one to do a weekly shop and get everything they want.

I, for one, am constantly frustrated at the lack of new gluten-free products in any of the supermarkets I shop in, in Leek or Macclesfield. When a new product comes out and there's a huge buzz about it on social media, the majority of the time it does not appear in any of my supermarkets until months after (with the exception of the new wraps from Costa Coffee) when the hype has usually died down and we're on to the next new gluten-free craze. This may be because I live in a small town, on the outskirts of the countryside, half an hour from any big city (Manchester or Stoke-on-Trent) but this doesn't change the fact that there are people living with Coeliac Disease who need to shop for food! The availability and convenience of a range of gluten-free products (not just one or two options) in every supermarket is something I feel so strongly about and I really hope that by raising awareness of this need for choice this Coeliac Awareness Week, supermarkets will listen and take action.

Supermarkets are getting much better, I must admit, and do offer a lot more choice than they did, say, 10 years ago as the demand for gluten-free products increases but there's still plenty more they could do. This improvement is due to the sheer number of people being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease which is growing at a huge rate. According to official statistics released this week the number of people diagnosed in the UK with Coeliac Disease has increased fourfold in the past 20 years. And this number is likely to grow which in turn will increase the demand for gluten-free food in our supermarkets.


For Coeliac Awareness Week this year Coeliac UK are asking supermarkets to sign up to their 'Gluten-Free Guarantee'. They would like all supermarkets to stock a core 8 gluten-free items, items we use day to day which they feel should be readily available to Coeliacs which are:-

• Fresh white bread
• Fresh brown bread
• Bread rolls
• Pasta
• Flour
• Cereal
• Cereal bars
• Crackers

I decided to do my own research here because I believe the supermarkets in Leek where I live can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to gluten-free products. I know, Leek, despite being a small town, is not the worst place for gluten-free availability but it certainly isn't the best either and I think there is plenty of room for improvement.

My Challenge

During this week I paid a visit to all the major supermarkets in Leek (including a couple that were a bit further afield but I occasionally shop in when I'm at work or visiting friends in nearby Stoke-on-Trent) to suss out the gluten-free availability in each store. Armed with my Gluten-Free Guarantee supermarket postcard supplied by Coeliac UK and my trusty pen, I spent some time looking at each Free From section and counting the number of items on offer. I did get a few funny looks from people as I stood in front of the shelves scrutinising them but I didn't really care, this was all in the name of research. 

Have you filled yours in yet?

Here are my findings...

	Supermarket
How many types of	Sainsburys Leek	Tesco Hanley	Tesco Metro Macclesfield	Waitrose Leek	Asda Leek	Morrisons Leek
Fresh white bread	2	6	2	3	0	0
Fresh brown bread (includes seeded)	4	6	4	6	1	3
Bread rolls	2	5	2	6	0	2
Flour	3	2	2	4	0	1
Pasta	7	6	2	6	1	2
Cereal (including porridge oats)	18	10	5	16	1	3
Cereal bars	9	4	3	10	3	4
Crackers	7	6	2	5	0	2
Total no of items	52	45	22	56	6	17

As you can see, way out in front were Waitrose and Sainsburys with an impressive 56 and 52 points respectively and no score lower than a 2 or 3 which means that in every one of the 8 categories there was more than one product to choose from. That means choice! And lots of it. Very close behind was Tesco in Hanley with a decent selection in all 8 categories. By far the worst supermarket for choice was Asda in Leek. This is only a small Asda store but the fact that this store did not even have white bread, rolls, flour, and crackers and only one choice of brown bread, pasta and cereal really isn't good enough and fell well below the standard set out by the Gluten-Free Guarantee. I will definitely be writing to head office about this particular Asda store. It's a good job there are plenty of other supermarkets in Leek to choose from otherwise I'd be pretty stuck. The most impressive Free From display must be awarded to Tesco in Hanley who had a massive Free From section, by far the biggest display in all 6 supermarkets I visited - the shelving took up pretty much half an aisle! (Wish I'd taken a photo). The smallest Free From section was Asda who had a pitiful 3 shelves - very disappointing.

On the whole I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of gluten-free products available where I shop. It's great to see that most supermarkets' Free From range are developing and expanding. Sainsburys and Tesco have their own very extensive Free From range, consisting of not only all your essential items such as bread and cereal, but Sainsburys even have their own frozen food Free From section including pizza, sausages, veggie burgers, chicken nuggets and fish fingers, whilst Tesco have a few of the more unusual items such as cous cous and jars of their own pasta sauce. Most supermarkets I visited stocked plenty of well known brands too such as Genius Foods, Newburn Bakehouse, Perkier Foods, Mrs Crimbles and Udi's Gluten Free, perhaps Morrisons being the only exception. I'm confident that over the next couple of years we'll see a lot more variety in our supermarket Free From sections, new companies starting their own ranges and supermarket Free From sections taking up much bigger shelf space in the aisles rather than just a couple of tiny shelves pushed at the end of an aisle. Perhaps also, supermarkets will begin to lower their prices of Free From products as the demand for these increases. We can but dream!

How does your supermarket fare? Do you have access to all 8 items on a regular basis in your local supermarket? Please comment below or send me a photo of your local supermarket's Free From aisle.

Udi's Gluten-Free cinnamon and raisin bagels

Confession time: Udi's Gluten-Free cinnamon and raisin bagels are my new found love!

These glorious delights are currently £1 in Tesco, reduced from £2.20, which I think for a pack of 4 is a bargain!

I'd been meaning to try the Udi's range out for a while (after hearing about them on Twitter) but struggled to find them in my local Tesco Metro (smaller version of a normal Tesco store)  and was constantly frustrated by their lack of stock. But, one day there they were, and I snapped them up.

I've never really been in to bagels of the sweet or savoury kind before but I gave these a go. I toasted mine for breakfast and I must say they were absolutely amazing! I'm so glad the company have brought them over here from America.

I was so impressed by these bagels for a number of reasons:

1. They smell so sweet as you take them out of the bag, the cinnamon aroma is lovely especially as it wafts round the kitchen whilst they are toasting.

2. They remind me a bit of a doughnut texture, lovely and smooth on the outside with a soft and chewy inside.

3. I've mainly always had bread in its savoury form, but thanks to these bagels I am well and truly converted to sweeter tasting bread.

4. You can freeze these bagels and the bread still holds it's shape and tastes fresh once defrosted (definitely stock your freezer up).

5. What I love about these bagels is they actually taste even better than the "normal" gluten containing bagels I've tried in the past, which I think is a rare find in gluten-free foods.

6. They are also thicker than a lot of normal bagels I've seen in the shops.

7. They have just the right amount of raisins to compliment the cinnamon flavouring.

8. They are so moreish!

9. I love to find new things to try for breakfast and I am happy to say I am definitely a bagel convert now. My boring breakfasts are no more.

Apparently there are 19 different Udi's products available in Tesco and I would love to give some of the other products a try - sadly my local Tesco store does not stock the whole range but I'm hoping that one day they will.

You can find out more about Udi's Gluten-Free and their fab products on their website:- www.udisglutenfree.co.uk/

Thanks for bringing them to the UK!

Coeliac Awareness Week and the importance of an early diagnosis

This week it's Coeliac Awareness Week also known as 'Gut Feeling Week' and Coeliac UK are doing an absolutely amazing job at raising awareness of the disease, educating people about what symptoms to look out for and stressing the importance of an early and correct diagnosis.

As you may know I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in February of this year and since then I have made it my mission (together with many Coeliacs across the UK) to spread the word and support others who also have the disease.

It is estimated that 1 in 100 people have Coeliac Disease but only 10-15% of those people have actually been diagnosed - this is shocking! That means there are roughly half a million people out there that are living with Coeliac Disease and they don't even know it!

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease is an autoimmune disease, not an allergy, not a food intolerance and definitely NOT faddy eating. It is caused by an immune reaction triggered by eating gluten - a type of protein found in cereals, wheat, rye, & barley.

For Coeliacs, when they eat gluten the body's immune system attacks its own tissue, damaging the lining of the gut and preventing normal digestion and absorption of food. Newly-diagnosed Coeliacs are therefore often malnourished because they have not been getting enough nutrients from the food they eat.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms are varied and are different for each person but some of the most common ones are:-

• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Constipation and/or diarrhoea
• Anaemia
• Depression
• Vomiting
• Extreme fatigue
• Headaches
• Unexplained weight loss

You don't necessarily have to have any stomach-related symptoms either, for example, some people are more affected by extreme tiredness/fatigue, repetitive infections, swollen glands, headaches/migraines etc, as was the case with me.

Coeliac Disease is often misdiagnosed as IBS as it shares some of the same symptoms but it's really important if your GP thinks you might have IBS you should also ask to have a blood test to screen for Coeliac Disease.

If left untreated Coeliac Disease can lead to further medical complications such as osteoporosis, infertility, miscarriages and even bowel cancer. This is why it is crucial that you get diagnosed.

The only treatment currently is to follow a strict gluten-free diet which means avoiding all foods containing wheat, rye, and barley, this means foods like bread, pasta, pastry, biscuits, cakes, flour etc. The good news is though Coeliac Disease IS treatable and if you stick to avoiding gluten completely you will notice a big difference in your symptoms and eventually over time they will disappear.

There are some great gluten-free products on the market which means you don't have to stop eating the foods you love, such as bread, cereals and pasta - you simply have to substitute them for gluten-free alternatives.

Some of my favourite brands at the moment are:

Juvela

Newburn Bakehouse

Sainsburys free-from range

Tesco free from range

Glutafin

If you think you may have Coeliac Disease it's important that you carry on eating gluten (for at least 6 weeks) until you have been officially diagnosed - which is usually via a blood test which tests for the specific antibody produced and then usually you will have to have a biopsy taken from your small intestine - a procedure called an endoscopy or gastroscopy. Once your results are confirmed positive for Coeliac Disease only then can you begin to cut gluten out completely from your diet.

Other things to note

Coeliac Disease can sometimes run in families so if someone in your family has been diagnosed with the condition it's important that you get checked out by your GP too.

During this week I have really enjoyed reading other people's diagnosis stories and it's been great to see Coeliac Disease making such a big impact on social media and even making a few appearances in the national and local press. If you have been suffering with any of the symptoms of Coeliac Disease I really would urge you to visit your GP and ask for a blood test for Coeliac Disease - it's as simple as that. Coeliac Awareness Week has really highlighted to me the fact that so many people are still putting their health at risk by failing to get diagnosed - it really isn't worth the constant feeling of being ill and not to mention how it could seriously be damaging your health in the long-term. So, make that change today, listen to your gut, visit your GP and you'll soon be on your way to a much healthier and happier gut.

To find out more about Coeliac UK's Gut Feeling Week click here: