there should be more help for people that need gluten free foods

[boomingrosemary2]

I have celiac disease so I can't have bread, cakes or pasta. The cost of the free from foods is sometimes 500% more! I get a free prescription for bread and pasta but sometimes I fancy a cake or something. Just looked at some small cakes, similar size but the normal one was 50p the free from was 2.49!

Aibu to think we should get more help with these?

I am non coeliac gluten intolerant and very severely so. I get no help at all with gluten free foods as I am not coeliac.

I therefore cook all my own. It really isn't hard to do and frankly I think coeliacs getting free or subsidised food with an enormous mark up to the manufacturer is wrong.

In the old days it was very hard to get food if you were gluten intolerant. Not now. It is easy to get gluten free flour, pasta, lactofree milk (some people become lactose intolerant with gluten intolerance). I buy Genius bread only very occasionally for toast and an occasional pack of Freeform bread buns from Sainsbury.

I really think the NHS should stop funding gluten free foods.

I think coeliacs getting free or subsidised food with an enormous mark up to the manufacturer is wrong.
I really think the NHS should stop funding gluten free foods.

Agreed. When type 2 diabetics can't get glucose testing strips on prescription because they are too expensive, why are the NHS handing out expensive bread and pasta???

I think coeliacs getting free or subsidised food with an enormous mark up to the manufacturer is wrong.

The handling and delivery charges can also cost the NHS a lot of money. I remember the fuss a couple of years ago when it was discovered that due to handling and delivery fees two gluten free pizza bases cost the NHS £34!

My strong impression is that there is quite a cosy industry in gluten free prescription food and I am also strongly of the impression that there is something of a protective wall around coeliac disease and a very great unwillingness to recognise that gluten intolerance spreads is a far far wider problem than just coeliac which is just one form of gluten intolerance.

Love how people are comparing people being able to have a child (IVF) to people being able to eat pasta and bread.

Insulting as fuck. And I say that as someone who recently found out I can't eat gluten!

'It does seem unfair that the NHS is not allowing them a little bit of cake.'

The bunch of bastards!! They need to sort their priorities out

Oh FGS it's not a direct comparison. It's about recognising that some things are seen as an acceptable use of NHS money and some aren't.

The NHS is supporting people to have a GF lifestyle in order to save money in the long term. It's preventative.

Is this seriously a thread bemoaning not having a cake prescription?

< pinches self to check I'm awake >

lagoona you are comparing it though. Which is just ridiculous. I believe IVF should be paid for because not being able to have children is a massive thing. People kill themselves over infertility.
Not being able to eat bread? Give me a break.

I'm not saying it's easy having such a restricted diet. In fact it can be a bloody nightmare. But trying to draw lines about what the NHS pays for by mentioning IVF? Sorry it just doesn't wash and it's insulting.

It began like that. Not sure if OP was being serious about the cake. It is now a thread bashing Coeliacs for having the audacity to get a few loaves for the cost of prescription as part of a preventative health measure.

YABU , as the mother of a coeliac child I don't think anything other than basics ie flour / bread should be available on the NHS ( we don't actually get anything through choice) . That said I would like to point out that Coeliacs is more than an intolerance to gluten , an intolerance might make you feel ill / cause bloat or whatever , if a coeliac eats gluten they put themselves at risk of serious illnesses including cancer .

Actually I didn't mention the IVF initially.

Sorry lagoona I assumed you did from your reply. Apologies.

I think providing prescriptions for luxuries like cake is obscene when many people are dependent on food banks to eat at all.

OP is literally saying let them eat cake. Obvious wind up is obvious.

The NHS is supporting people to have a GF lifestyle in order to save money in the long term. It's preventative.

That is a theory and it may have been true in the past but I doubt that nowadays people with coeliac disease are going to start eating bread and other foods containing gluten if they can't get GF on prescription. GF food is widely available and much cheaper than it used to be. It is possible to avoid gluten and have a healthy diet without spending a fortune.

Damn it, cake is NOT unhealthy! Well, as long as the cake eater gets plenty of exercise and isn't eating unreasonable quantities of cake. A sedentary lifestyle is much more unhealthy than a little cake after daily exercise.

Bread is certainly a staple in the British diet, and people who haven't had to give it up for medical reasons probably have no idea how difficult it is to adjust to a wheat free or gluten free diet.

As for whether cake should be available on the NHS... if it helps, then why not? I don't believe it's useful to make comparisons with other conditions.

I'm coeliac, so is my mum, sister and niece and none of us get a perscription. We manage fine without. I bake a couple of times a week and it's no harder than normal baking.

im gluten free
I simply don't have those food groups which cause issue and batch cook all my food
I don't think nhs should fund me
I would rather that went into more essential services

Its annoying that gluten substitutes are massively more expensive. I aporeciate that the fact that gluten is in a lot of convenience food makes eating out/buying snacks extremely difficult.

I don't support any additional prescription products because gluten has zero nutritional value -in fact it is an anti nutrient- so it shouldn't need to be replaced. Replacement is for convenience, not for health reasons. You may be missing out on pleasure and convenience but you're not missing out on any nutrients by not eating gluten.

We have gf pasta. I don't buy bread but I wanted pittas today and for 4 gf pittas it was £2 plus! But if I was being a cheapskate, as it was to dip, I could've used corn chips.

As a pp said, gluten intolerance is much more widely spread than pure Coeliac. I think major chains are starting to pick up on this but it could be much more catered for.

As for whether cake should be available on the NHS... if it helps, then why not?

Seriously??

My DH is a type 2 diabetic, he has to pay for his own glucose testing machine and strips. He cannot eat bread, or cake, or white rice or potatoes etc etc. have never once thought that the NHS should fund his food, we eat very well using beans, pulses, and lots of vegetables. I am rather surprised that scripts are still available for GF foods and do not think it is defendable in the current climate.

YABU, my DS has multiple allergies and we get no food on prescription, nor do I think we should. I've yet to find a cake in the supermarket that he can eat, whereas there are always several options for those who are gluten free.

I hadn't realised it was so different depending on where you live. My GP has said I could have pizza bases and even biscuits on prescription, as well as bread, crackers, pasta, etc. The only thing I actually get is crispbreads because they keep, and 8 boxes of them for £8.10 (or whatever a prescription costs nowadays) is a lot cheaper than buying them from a shop. I don't get bread on prescription because I'd need to order at least four loaves to make it cost effective and I don't have enough freezer space to keep them.

I've never ordered biscuits on prescription because it just seems wrong. And they're probably not that nice

The NHS doesn't pay for food for other people with medical conditions that require a strict diet.

It does for PKU.