Free-from food increasingly unaffordable in UK, experts warn

Patients with food allergies and health conditions that affect the digestive system are increasingly unable to afford supermarkets free of products, which leave them with painful symptoms or permanent damage, experts warn.

About 2.3 million people in the UK have either a food allergy or intolerance, or celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that leaves people unable to eat gluten.

To stay healthy, many have to buy free-from food, which costs much more than other products. A report by the Food Standards Agency in 2022 calculated that adults with food allergy, intolerance or celiac disease already spend up to 27% more on food than those without food hypersensitivity.

In some areas, patients can get help with medical diet costs. Celiac patients in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are less at risk of long-term health complications because they can access free gluten-free bread, pasta and flour.

But the cost of living crisis has made it much more difficult, especially for people in England, to afford free food. In England, of the 42 integrated care boards, about a third no longer offer any gluten-free food on prescription, after NHS England said that commissioners are no longer obliged to.

The latest Celiac UK figures show that gluten-free staples are now typically 2.5 times more expensive than non-gluten-free products. A typical loaf of gluten-free bread is 4.4 times more expensive, while the cheapest gluten-free breads are six times as expensive as their gluten-containing equivalents.

Similarly, the cheapest oat milk typically costs 1.30 to 1.40 a liter, more than double the typical price of cows’ milk.

Dr Kate Evans, a consultant gastroenterologist at Royal Berkshire NHS foundation trust, says that in the past year she has seen a number of patients with celiac disease who are not sticking to their gluten-free diet because it is too expensive.

Patients are referred back because of ongoing symptoms such as abdominal pain, weight loss and diarrhea, she said. Evans said tests showed it was because they weren’t adhering to a gluten-free diet.

That’s when it turns out that they eat normal bread because they can’t afford gluten free. They say they eat gluten because there is no other choice.

This can have serious long-term health consequences. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition for which the only treatment is a lifelong strict gluten-free diet. Celiacs who eat gluten are more likely to get osteoporosis and osteopenia, which puts them at an increased risk of fracture and also leads to small bowel inflammation and ulceration that can cause cancer.

Professor David Sanders, a consultant gastroenterologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, NHS foundation trust, says that patients do not always realize the risks, especially those who do not have significant symptoms. They’re not thinking what things will happen long term. They’re just thinking about surviving now.

Dr Gary Robbins, a consultant gastroenterologist at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says the impact of unaffordable gluten-free food has not yet been fully felt in the NHS. I think there is a larger group of Those patients who come over the horizon in the next two to five years.

The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Camilla Kingdon, says that for children with celiac disease, food intolerance or allergies, access to the appropriate free-from foods is crucial for their development.

After pediatricians are already seen children and their families ration or go without the necessary free-of alternatives. Without these foods, children may have gastrointestinal problems, often get sick and even be at greater risk of mental health problems.

It is simply not right that children from low income families are placed at such a disadvantage in terms of their health and well-being. If we really want to get a handle on child health, we must first tackle child poverty and food insecurity.

Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK, says children with cow’s milk allergy whose families cannot afford alternatives such as oat or soya products may develop other health problems.

Because these products tend to be fortified to be at least as nutritionally compatible as the food they are replacing, eliminating them from a child’s diet can lead to longer-term health implications for a child’s development, such as increased risk of eczema, Vitamin and mineral deficiencies. , Warner said.

Sanders said the fact that gluten-free food is no longer available to many on prescription reflects a degree of inertia and nihilism in the medical community. Gluten-free food is the only treatment for celiac disease. If it was type 1 diabetes, another autoimmune disease, we wouldn’t be asking patients to buy their own insulin.

Tristan Humphreys, head of advocacy at Celiac UK, said: It cannot be right that so many people with celiac disease living in England are denied access to such a lifeline. Not because of need or means but by accident of geography alone.