Costs of living with food allergies

[BlueSkies2020]

I’ve just completed a survey the government is running on the cost of living with food allergies. I completed for my child who has a dairy allergy and my husband who has an alphalaxtic shocks and buying food to manage their allergies definitely has an impact on our weekly food shop bill

We’d definitely struggle if we were on low incomes to afford oat milk etc, so seems to be important research to me.

I wonder if food banks manage to cater for people with allergies? I think I will donate long life oat milk in future- hadn’t really thought about this issue before.

I don’t have the link handy as it was linked to on a tweet and I can’t copy it, but it is being run by the FSA

I've often wondered about people with allergies relies on Foodbanks too OP.

I've found the link OP for anyone interested

www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/OY31SK/

Oops, this link from the FSA with the background and survey link is perhaps more useful!

www.food.gov.uk/about-us/consumer-research-on-living-with-a-food-hypersensitivity

Thanks for the link. It's good that this is being given some thought!

DD is allergic to dairy and eggs. I am allergic to nuts & pulses (inc. soya) which makes us a bit incompatible - I can't share any of DD's dairy replacement things apart from Oatly milk which I don't like.

I spend around £20 per month on oat milk for DD(3) and probably another £10 on Oatly creme fraiche and soya yoghurt/ice cream so £30 a month just for dairy replacements. When money was very tight this time last year my total monthly food/cleaning products/toiletries budget was £140 so you can imagine the dent that the dairy-free food made in that.

It is a significant cost to a single parent, currently on a low income.

My own allergies (nuts and pulses/soya) mean that I basically can't eat bought bread/biscuits/cakes/quiches/puddings/ready meals so have to make everything from scratch. I reckon it probably doesn't add that much cost to the shopping bill though as a lot of the processed foods are quite pricey.

Our biggest outlay is on dairy free products (DD has multiple allergies including cow's milk) and usually buy when on promotion. Although for a while there weren't any reductions particularly on Oatly as it's become so popular.

@INeedNewShoes I really feel for anyone managing allergies on a tight budget - an additional stress that you really don't need.

Oatly was £1.20 per carton in Waitrose last week. Might still be!...

Ooh thank you @INeedNewShoes ....going to pop to Waitrose and see if I can stock up on Oatley. I currently have a few Morrison’s own-brand oat milk cartons to get through, but they’re not very nice! I try and stock up on Oatley when it’s on offer, otherwise it’s just too expensive.

I agree with previous posters it’s the dairy replacement that is the most expensive. We tend to use non-dairy for the whole family in our cooking, because it’s simpler that way, but it’s more expensive obviously.

It must be so difficult for those on low incomes and single parent families to afford ‘free from’ which tend to be more expensive and rarely on offer.