To think gluten free prescriptions should come back?

[Mymapuddlington]

I think I probably am but with all the panic buying people are buying gluten free stuff. I’m diagnosed coeliac and it’s hard enough finding food that isn’t ridiculously expensive never mind when you go to the single shelf in the co op to see it empty. Maybe I’m just hungry?!

@Larryyourwaiter

DD only eats one brand of GF bread. If I am lucky I can find one loaf of it (£2.80) in a supermarket. I might have to spend several hours driving around to find that, or get friends to check stock. I buy it on top of the prescription because the loaves are so tiny. At Christmas they used to reduce the GF stock to make more room for other stuff, it was a fucking nightmare.

Is it Juvela? So much nicer than Genius or on brand.

*own brand

Not in relation to OP, but if someone can't afford to be driving around to different supermarkets or pay 6 x the amount for a loaf of bread etc, should they get assistance? I think so, I know you don't have to eat bread, but so much food has gluten in its so limiting.

@Ricekake that's how I thought when I ws first diagnosed but actually there are lots of foods that are naturally gf and its much easier, longterm, to change your diet to make potatoes or rice your staple than chasing round for expensive, nasty gf bread.

[quote Porcupineintherough]@Ricekake that's how I thought when I ws first diagnosed but actually there are lots of foods that are naturally gf and its much easier, longterm, to change your diet to make potatoes or rice your staple than chasing round for expensive, nasty gf bread.[/quote]
Are we talking about gluten in general, or just wheat gluten? Rice has gluten too.

If I had a £1 for everyone who told me “there’s loads of GF food now.”, I would be a very rich woman! It really wasn’t something I needed to even consider six years ago, but I have had my eyes opened now to the lack of choice, variety and expense.

Holidays are a nightmare. Parties are a nightmare. Any social occasion really.

We’re lucky to be able to afford GF foods and I’m not talking about cakes and biscuits - I mean cereals, pasta etc. Honestly though, when you are 10 and everyone else is having a biscuit in their packed lunch then you do want to have one too. So much food is social and for children about “fitting in”.

I do think that a greater variety of GF foods should be available on prescription for children to support parents who cannot afford them and either end up limiting their diet or making them unwell. Not everyone has the time, the money or the ability to navigate GF.

I think she's been mentioned a couple of times, but Becky Excell is amazing. She has really revolutionised baking and cooking (and bread baking!). She has 2 cook books out now, the 2nd one has only been out a couple of weeks. It has a whole section on GF bread.

If you haven't come across her, her blog site is glutenfreecuppatea and she also has a very active FB group.

@OnlyToWin

If I had a £1 for everyone who told me “there’s loads of GF food now.”, I would be a very rich woman! It really wasn’t something I needed to even consider six years ago, but I have had my eyes opened now to the lack of choice, variety and expense.

Holidays are a nightmare. Parties are a nightmare. Any social occasion really.

We’re lucky to be able to afford GF foods and I’m not talking about cakes and biscuits - I mean cereals, pasta etc. Honestly though, when you are 10 and everyone else is having a biscuit in their packed lunch then you do want to have one too. So much food is social and for children about “fitting in”.

I do think that a greater variety of GF foods should be available on prescription for children to support parents who cannot afford them and either end up limiting their diet or making them unwell. Not everyone has the time, the money or the ability to navigate GF.

Well the selection of GF foods in supermarkets is definitely much larger than 6 years ago.

I remember when it was just a few small shelves, now it’s a whole rail.

Plus there are lots of online shoos as well now.

Gluten is a specific protein that raises an autoimmune response in coeliacs. It is not found in rice, even rice that is described as glutenous ie sticky.

@pelosi totally agree that the selection has improved even in the last few years but it’s hardly comparable to the entire stock of the rest of the supermarket that the vast majority of people can access.

Don’t think the poster specified McCain. Other brands are available. Or - (make sure you’re sat down for this, your mind will be blown) you could just cut up a potato…

Missing the point that OP is pregnant and craving toast.

I got quite unreasonable when DH didn't buy me the rice I was having a craving for when I was pregnant. Being offered toast or chips or whatever would not have improved my mood.

Sorry, I'm coeliac and I don't agree with having gf food on prescription. It's too expensive for the NHS. The only gf things I buy off the free from counters are bread, pasta and cereal. These are often keenly priced in some supermarkets. Sometimes I make the bread myself. For everything else there are plenty of normally priced substitutes to choose from.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup

Would you be able to invest in a bread maker, and make your own bread with gluten free flour? We make all our bread at home and it’s so easy - half a minute to weigh out the ingredients and then it does all the work for you. I feel awful that you can’t have toast whenever you fancy some.

This might at least give you one thing you could always rely on having available. Tesco sells Doves Farm gluten free beard flour, for instance, and easy packet yeast is cheap.

We are keen bakers. My son is coeliac and we have had breadmakers for 24 years. I have never managed to bake him a loaf that is decent, by hand or by breadmaker. Sometimes they come out looking OK but then turn into bricks once they cool.

It’s great that Morrison’s (and Asda) charge the same for gluten free pasta as they do for normal pasta.

I remember just a couple of years ago GF pasta was £2 a pack, now it’s like 60p.

sueelleker

Rice doesn't contain gluten.

There is more gluten free choice now than ever and much of it has come down in price. If you see reduced priced gluten free bread, buy it and freeze it. Use it to make breadcrumbs, make your own sauces.

@M4J4 yes! Annoyed you can’t get the rolls without a prescription now

DD is a coeliac and I can afford to buy gf bread, pasta, treats for her lunchbox and jam tarts. I can spend time reading labels and learning about her condition and educating her, her school and her friends parents. As with so many things my DD will not suffer significantly with this because her parents are educated professionals.

Whereas the children whose parents haven't got the time/money/inclination may have a poorer diet, probably regularly consuming gluten from accidental contamination or otherwise missing out on vital social interaction because of their diet.

I don't really care if my DD can't get GF bread on prescription- as you have all kindly pointed out I can buy it in sainsburys and thats what I do. I can also cook using
raw ingredients and regularly. However Lidl and Aldi don't sell GF products routinely and not everyone will cook a nutritionally balanced meal using lentils every night. Maybe a prescription might help some children who already suffer from health inequalities.

P.s "muggle" is a lighthearted term used by coeliacs in support groups etc. The PP who got her knickers in a twist because someone referred to "muggle bread" or whatever really needs to get a life. No one is trying to align coeliacs with wizards ffs.

lol muggle just means a normal person. Us gf folk are jealous of y’all. I do miss a good custard cream. And crusty fresh bread. And fresh pasta. And greggs sausage rolls. Sigh.

@Ilovefluffysheep yes! Her millionaires shortbread is incredible, I made her lemon cheesecake today and her Yorkshire puddings are great. My muggle family all love it all and have asked me to make more just because. She is a genius.

@SuperCaliFragalistic parents who haven't got the time to feed their coeliac kid a gluten free diet, really? Know many? But they'll find the time to order via the laborious nhs prescription system?

Where ignorance or not giving a fuck are a problem kids are going to suffer whether they can get bread rolls on the NHS or not. There's gluten in a whole bunch of stuff. You either make the time to avoid it or you dont. If you dont, eating some gf pasta wont save you, or your kid, from the consequences.

Rice has gluten too

There is no gluten in rice

[quote Porcupineintherough]@SuperCaliFragalistic parents who haven't got the time to feed their coeliac kid a gluten free diet, really? Know many? But they'll find the time to order via the laborious nhs prescription system?

Where ignorance or not giving a fuck are a problem kids are going to suffer whether they can get bread rolls on the NHS or not. There's gluten in a whole bunch of stuff. You either make the time to avoid it or you dont. If you dont, eating some gf pasta wont save you, or your kid, from the consequences.[/quote]
This is so ignorant, cripes.

I do miss a good custard cream

Schar's are good. I've found them at Waitrose and Sainsbury's

www.schaer.com/en-uk/product/custard-creams

@SuperCaliFragalistic

DD is a coeliac and I can afford to buy gf bread, pasta, treats for her lunchbox and jam tarts. I can spend time reading labels and learning about her condition and educating her, her school and her friends parents. As with so many things my DD will not suffer significantly with this because her parents are educated professionals.

Whereas the children whose parents haven't got the time/money/inclination may have a poorer diet, probably regularly consuming gluten from accidental contamination or otherwise missing out on vital social interaction because of their diet.

I don't really care if my DD can't get GF bread on prescription- as you have all kindly pointed out I can buy it in sainsburys and thats what I do. I can also cook using
raw ingredients and regularly. However Lidl and Aldi don't sell GF products routinely and not everyone will cook a nutritionally balanced meal using lentils every night. Maybe a prescription might help some children who already suffer from health inequalities.

P.s "muggle" is a lighthearted term used by coeliacs in support groups etc. The PP who got her knickers in a twist because someone referred to "muggle bread" or whatever really needs to get a life. No one is trying to align coeliacs with wizards ffs.

This 1000%

My son went to a very middle class school and was one of 6 coeliacs out of 600 people, he changed to a school in a very deprived area with > 800 pupils, he was the first coeliac they had had.

I would imagine there are lots of undiagnosed children out there but the parents just cannot afford the extra it costs to feed them. My son isn't fussy and takes rice salad, cold pasta and occasionally bread to college but for lots of parents lunch is cheap bread with cheap ham because that's better than nothing.