Cutting the cost of going gluten-free

HAVING AN INTOLERANCE TO THIS COMMON PROTEIN SHOULDN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO PAY OVER THE ODDS FOR NUTRITIOUS MEALS, BECKY EXCELL TELLS ELLA WALKER

- 

FOOD is expensive right now, for everyone. It can be a shock when you fill your basket with the basics and it ends up noticeably more expensive than last month, or even last week.

If you're gluten-free, it’s no less painful, but that shock may be slightly dulled by the fact this is how it’s always been - shop in the free-from aisle and you know your bank balance will take a battering.

"Gluten-free food is too expensive," says gluten-free cookbook author Becky Excell. “It’s always, always been too expensive.”

According to charity Coeliac UK - Becky is an ambassador - a weekly shop on a gluten-free diet can be up to 35% more pricey than your average, gluten-containing whizz round the supermarket.

“It doesn’t feel OK when it’s not a choice,” says Becky.

“If I could go back to when I was younger and eat just regular bread, I would, it’s so much nicer.

“No one does it through a love of gluten-free products. We do it because we have to.”