gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

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Some of last year’s gluten-free products.

The discount supermarket Aldi is at it again, and in the next week or so you should start seeing its gluten free range back on the shelves. (For those unfamiliar with the range, Aldi annually releases a range of gluten, wheat and dairy free products under the ‘Has No’ brand, until they sell out.)

This has become a big moment on the annual gluten-free calendar because their products are not only well priced, but according to a huge portion of our readers, they are really fabulous quality too.

Last year we got our first chance to sample some of their range, and will be trying more things this year too – but as always – we’d love it if our readers could weigh in with their favourites (the sticky toffee pudding received quite a few special mentions last year – so fingers crossed it shows up again this year). Read the rest of this entry »

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Hey Aldi fans, it’s that time again. The discount supermarket’s popular Has no… gluten free range is back on the shelves. If you’re not familiar with the range, Aldi annually releases a range of gluten, wheat and dairy free products under this brand.

We describe them as popular, not because we’re on the Aldi payroll, but because our posts on this topic tend to go off. It’s not just the price that’s appealing, according to our readers. Apparently the products are pretty decent quality too. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s often said that you shouldn’t remove gluten from your diet unless you really have to. But where does that leave you in a household where half of you react to gluten and half of you don’t?

On one hand, you don’t want to deprive everyone of the flavour, texture, nutrition and fibre content of gluteny grains, (the latter’s a risk if you stick to unadventurous alternatives like rice and spuds—and I’ll own up to this).

On the other hand, if you’re not into a la carte-style meal prep, and want to avoid gluten envy, you’ll need to find some common ground at the dining table. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to a gluten-free 2010. Lets hope I have more success at saying no to wheaten products at the yummy end of the spectrum this year than I did over the Christmas break.

For all my valiant efforts to stay on the wagon, I must solemnly stand before you and admit to consuming at least two mince pies, and a bun (or three) over the holiday period.

My gluten-free goose was well and truly cooked when my toddler (who must steer completely clear of all gluten in order to have an enjoyable life) caught me knawing on a bread roll at a family barbeque and demanded some of the same.

The problem is that unlike him, my own constitution allows me some wiggle room in the gluten free stakes. I have to consume it at least twice a day for more than three days straight to start experiencing that icky feeling in my tummy that tells me it is time to lay off. So its an on-again off-again, love-hate relationship between gluten and me.

Of course my struggle to stay on the wagon does not for a minute diminish my fascination for all things gluten free because I still have to produce three meals a day for the little’un, seven days a week.

That means we at the Gluten Free Family blog have dreamed up some ambitious resolutions for the coming year. Not only will we be conducting the big bread bakeoff in coming weeks - to compare the merits, taste, ingredients and ease of baking of the most readily available commercial bread mixes in the supermarkets - but we also plan to focus our minds on the question of how to shrink the weekly gluten-free grocery bill.

Other things to watch out for will be our soon-to-be launched YouTube channel where we will step you through some of our favourite recipes and cookery short cuts.

We will also be pestering supermarkets about getting our favourite products on their shelves, talking to some specialist suppliers about their product ranges, and chatting with scientists to discover how we all got so sensitive to common foodstuffs in the first place.

So please stay tuned in 2010, and I will try harder to steer clear of the pastries and the buns!

LH

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I probably won’t shock anyone by noting that gluten free products cost nearly three times as much as their gluten-based equivalents. 

A recent Canadian study found that gluten free products on average cost 242% more.

Today I poked around my local supermarket on a mission to put these stats to the test and found that a couple of the basics actually cost five times as much.

At Woolworths, an unbranded white loaf of bread costs $1.10 compared to $5.70 for the gluten free equivalent.

And while you could bag 500g of no name pasta for a mere 60c, the cheapest gluten free pack – found in the family unfriendly size of 250g – is $1.50.

And these are just the basics. If you want specialty items from far flung suppliers, whack shipping costs on top. 

Why is this so? We at GFF asked this question of some of the local manufacturers. This was their combined response:

1. A smaller customer base means lower production runs, a smaller scale of manufacturing, less automation and therefore higher margins

2. The main gluten free grains, corn and rice, are more expensive – one supplier said three times as expensive – than wheat because they are not produced in anywhere near the volumes

3. Australia also saw its smallest rice crop in history last year, further inflating prices

4. Because production runs are smaller, these ingredients are also bought in lower volumes which means less discounting

5. Gluten free products require extra ingredients such as xanthan gum and guar gum to achieve the same texture as their wheat based counterparts

6. Also, to get the taste and texture right, extra production steps are needed, making manufacturing more challenging and complicated

7. To top this off, in order to declare their product gluten free, manufacturers must adhere to strict guidelines around storage and traceability so everything must be tested and certified

8. Some retailers may also mark up gluten free products, as they would niche gourmet products, however opinions were mixed on this.

So there you have it.

MB

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