26 December 2017

Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK response to Taxpayers alliance press release: 

“For someone medically diagnosed with coeliac disease, there is no choice but to stick to a gluten free diet, day in day out for life and so access to gluten free staples is critical, and is not as easy as people might think. The expansion of Free From aisles in large supermarkets masks the reality of very patchy provision and with basic gluten free breads costing 800% more than conventional equivalents, those who can least afford them rely on prescriptions to access limited amounts of essential staple foods.”

“Strict guidance is already available on prescribing staple gluten free foods and this precludes prescribing sweet biscuits – a position we support. We also support the NHS’s need to manage its budget effectively but that does include retaining access to important gluten free staples without which patients may struggle to maintain their diet and puts them at risk of serious long term complications such as osteoporosis.”