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?!

@Ricekake do you expect the nhs to provide special safe food for children who are, say, anaphylactic to nuts or do you expect their parents to work it out? What about children with a dairy allergy, do you think that their food is on prescription too (hint: beyond infant formula it isn't)? Or what about kids with soya allergy? Now that's a real ballache, its in everything.

Why is coeliac disease the one condition where parents cant be expected to act responsibly and where food must be provided ?

@GrolliffetheDragon

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.

The NHS is not responsible for supplying pregnant women with their cravings.

Jeez calm down!
I’m not going to lobby the nhs for a prescription and accept I’m being unreasonable!

@Mymapuddlington

Jeez calm down! I’m not going to lobby the nhs for a prescription and accept I’m being unreasonable!

Never post a lighthearted thread without specifically stating it is lighthearted in the title at the beginning of your post at the end of your post and occasionally the middle 😉

If this thread has taught me one thing its that I can order gluten free stuff from Warburton directly and that is fantastic 👌

Yup. My elderly mother just went into hospital because she hasn’t been able to follow her diet. She can’t always get the right bread so she cuts corners.

@Cabinfever10

Sorry but yabu. There is no need for gluten free food just buy fresh food (fruit, veg ,meat and rice) and if you want biscuits etc make your own with rice or corn flour and gum Arabic. Yes some of it takes longer to prepare but its a lot cheaper and healthier. I have done this for years. Honestly gluten free food should never have been on prescription

Agree my mum is coeliac and there's loads of food you can eat that is naturally gluten free. She does get flour on prescription to make her own bread.

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.

My DD has been the only coeliac in her school of over 600 in her whole 7 years there. But my neice and nephew have several coeliacs in their tiny village primary school of less than 100. Nationally the rates are 1 in 100 but as the symptoms can be mild and vary a lot and access to diagnosis is long and tedious and you generally have to push your GP to test I would suggest that most of those diagnosed will be from a higher socio-economic group who are more confident to challenge GPs and motivated to educate themselves.

Having a coeliac child is a massive challenge. If you don't have much money or time and the outward symptoms are often mild pressing your GP for months to address it can seem like an upward struggle that you can do without then to recognise that you can never trust anyone (even school/childcare) to feed your child again without being "that" parent. It's hard.

Tbh I've veered from the point of this thread as @Porcupineintherough is right prescriptions won't help these children that aren't getting diagnosed or whose parents don't manage their child's diet properly. And this doesn't help the pregnant OP who just wants some toast! But maybe some way of supplying bread and flour alongside education and support for families might help these children? Wouldnt that be the responsibility of the NHS? I'm constantly shocked at how badly informed everyone seems to be about coeliac disease including teachers and health professionals.

I think if you tell the school/others that your child has a nut allergy that is all you need to say and nuts are banned from lunchboxes etc. Fair enough. Whereas my DD has to be surrounded by crumbs every lunchtime, kids throwing food, being asked to cook with gluten in DT lessons, gluten treats being handed out at the end of the school day, all due to ignorance and lack of care. The teachers apologise when it's brought up but they clearly don't give a fuck because it keeps happening. Luckily my DD will raise issues and educate her friends and teachers because she's a confident little thing. I don't imagine many of you would want your kid in this position though?

All the gluten free stuff at my local supermarket is always marked down.

[quote DameFanny]@marriednotdead I just use regular plain live yoghurt because I've always got it in the fridge. The idea is something acidic - to react with the bicarb - in something a bit creamy, for mouth feel. So you could add lemon juice to non dairy milk maybe? The trick is to go by weight not volume. Mix your flour, xanthum (if gf flour) and bicarb, then match the weight with your yoghurt or milk and lemon juice. The ratio for lemon juice would usually be a teaspoon for 200ml iirc so adjust accordingly.

I usually mix with a spatula to a paste, then pat into flat rounds with floured hands. If you get them thin enough and the pan hot you can sometimes get them to puff up like pittas.[/quote]
Thank you. These sound amazing. Would you mind also sharing your soda cheese bread recipe?

@AgentJohnson

All the gluten free stuff at my local supermarket is always marked down.

All the time? I doubt it.

The Coeliac Society campaign for prescriptions (not free btw. You still paid a prescription cost)was based on the increased cost of GF food and the difficulty in obtaining it if you lived rurally or weren’t able to access a supermarket. Maybe they should lobby to reduce the price of GF food. That may help if prescriptions aren’t available.

I used to get around 8 small loaves (really small) and a couple of packs of flour. Prescription cost was £7 ish at the time. I certainly wasn’t getting ‘free’ food. There were definitely no jam tarts or biscuits.

Cost is the issue. Unless you’re hanging about waiting for yellow stickers then you’re paying over double. The need to keep coeliacs on a GF diet is cost driven. Failure to comply rigidly with the diet results in serious health issues that will inevitably have a larger cost implication than a regular prescription. I know this has been stated already.

FWIW I think prescription food for coeliacs in general is not necessarily needed now but there needs to be a mechanism for those on low incomes to access it more cheaply. The cost is ridiculous.

@BlanketPiggy

Would prescription mean you'd have to pay nearly £10 for a loaf of bread?!

No a prescription covers 18 items and for Dd we can choose what those items are…..from a mix of various bread products and flour. Where we live she can still get gf stuff prescribed. Plus she has an annual prescription card so essentially it’s free.

Saying that we haven’t bothered with it for years even though she could get it. The prescription bread is horrible. Nicer options at the supermarket, but yes it’s expensive. Think we pay £3 for a small loaf.

I am interested in a bread maker, will have to do some research into ones with gluten free modes which might make an ok loaf.

The teachers apologise when it's brought up but they clearly don't give a fuck because it keeps happening.

DD has just started school and I've been really surprised at how lax they are with dietary requirements. Luckily the lunches are made by an outside caterer (incidentally, the manager has coeliac disease so any coeliac kids couldn't be in better hands!) and they have been absolutely on the ball with DDs allergies.

But DD who is allergic to dairy (thankfully mildly now) has been given milk at morning snack time on numerous occasions. She's refused it every time until last week when curiosity (and probably wanting to be the same as everyone else) got the better of her and she tried it. Obviously she really needs to learn to look after herself on this front but I'd expect the school to be on the case especially with 4 year old kids for whom everything at school is new.

A friend happened to go to Tesco and I have had my toast and am now a lot happier

Fwiw I’m low income as I care for my disabled child and live very rurally, the co-op is the only shop I can get to within an hours travel. I know gf food used to be on prescription hence the post, however I fully accept I’m being unreasonable and am happily going to have some more toast!

It was on prescription because it wasn’t available in supermarkets. Now it is available in supermarkets and it’s way cheaper to buy it than to pay a prescription charge for it. Not to mention that it costs the NHS a stupid amount.

I do however think that as it’s an essential medical item which is more expensive, people (and children) who are eligible for free prescriptions should get a supermarket voucher to help towards the cost.

Why is coeliac disease the one condition where parents cant be expected to act responsibly and where food must be provided
You’ve obviously never had to live on a free from diet! Nut free is easy, the vast majority of food is nut free and you can shop normally. Dairy free is a bit harder but there’s still a lot of choice and dairy isn’t in everything. Gluten free is really difficult because carbs like bread and pasta and flour are staples of the Western diet, they’re everywhere and you eat them in large volumes, and alternatives are stupidly expensive. For example if you can’t eat butter or peanut butter then you just put something else on your toast - but if you can’t eat the actual toast then you’re fucked.

For example if you can’t eat butter or peanut butter then you just put something else on your toast - but if you can’t eat the actual toast then you’re fucked.

There are other ways to eat peanut butter, though; and you can always spread your peanut butter on GF bread. Silly argument.

@Goodiewhemper this is the one I use - www.easypeasyfoodie.com/easy-cheese-soda-bread/

Unless I'm making it for everyone with soup or whatever I generally make a half quantity to eat over 2 days because it's too moreish for me. You can sub in plant milk for dairy, and if you have a problem with yeast use lemon juice.

There are other ways to eat peanut butter, though; and you can always spread your peanut butter on GF bread. Silly argument.
You can buy ordinary priced normal food to replace butter or peanut butter though. Like Marmite or jam for example. But there’s no ordinary priced normal food to replace bread. You have to buy special GF bread which costs a fortune.

YANBU. A few years ago my GPs stopped giving prescriptions for GF food except for bread. And l am so grateful for it. It is only eatable when toasted but l do need it. Yes, l do occasionally afford shop bought Gluten free bread but it is extremely expensive and not for every day.
I was so annoyed during lockdown when people were buying GF stuff and were then saying they didn't like it.
I have a very elderly relative, also a Coeliac, who lives in a care home in another part of the country. Sometimes the cooks there do not understand Gluten free food and she gets miserable meals, sometimes she suspects there is wheat flour in them so doesn't eat them. She cannot see well and online shopping is hard for her. She cannot go out to shop. Fortunately she also still gets bread (only bread) on prescription otherwise l think she would starve!!
Coeliac are very careful about what they eat

Hampton, marmite is not recommended for Coeliacs

Marmite is basically gluten spread containing barley and wheat. I do miss it though!

Oh, l miss Marmite too

I don't think you should be able to get anything on prescription that you can buy, except for children but especially things like moisturiser and bread. You don't NEED bread.

@mustlovegin I found them utterly disgusting. Overly sweet and like eating dust.

Elderly people who are not able to cook, can't see to shop on line, can't go out to shop but if they are lucky can occasionally get someone to do a bit of shopping for them for a can of sardines or a bit of cheese, or something that will last, they need bread delivered on prescription