It’s free to everyone that joins Coeliac UK, and is currently used by over 43,000 people (that’s nearly 70% of our members).

We often receive enquiries on how to get the most from the app, so we’ve compiled everything you need to know into one handy blog article.

What is the Gluten Free Food Checker?

The Gluten Free Food Checker is an app that we’ve developed to help you search nearly 200,000 food products, and find out what’s suitable for your gluten free diet. The app features:

• a handy barcode scanner and product search function for shopping on the go
• ingredients and nutritional information for products
• ready made product lists tailored to your dietary preferences
• allergy alerts and product recalls to help you stay up to date
• ability to select other dietary requirements, with up to 14 dietary preferences, and the option to filter out products containing oats from your search

How does it work?

There are two ways to search for products in the app – and 60% of our members like to use both:

1. Using your phone’s camera, scan the barcode of any product to search our extensive database. This is handy when you’re out shopping and need to find information quickly.
2. Type the product you are looking for into the search function to find gluten free options. All results will be tailored to your profile – so if you’ve selected other dietary requirements, you’ll only see products suitable for these.

 Nearly 200,000 products and counting

Our database includes products from nine different supermarkets and thousands of large and small brands, as well as our Crossed Grain trademarked products.

When you see the Crossed Grain trademark on a product, it meets Coeliac UK’s safe production standards. This means the production facility has gone through a rigorous audit, which includes checking the suitability of incoming ingredients and the manufacturing process.  It also means we have received test certificates verifying that these processes are working, and that products have no more than 20 ppm gluten.

Find out why a product isn’t suitable

As well as showing you which products are suitable for your diet, our app also lets you know which products aren’t suitable, with these handy symbols:

 

 

 

Over 84% of our members find it valuable to understand which products aren’t suitable and why. When you’re newly diagnosed or keen to try something new, this can give you the confidence you need.

TIP. If you see a sad face, tap on it to find out which ingredient or allergen statement in that product isn’t suitable for you.

We all have those products at the back of our cupboard that need checking, so why not have a dig around and practice using the app at home?

Feel more confident about shopping gluten free

There are thousands of products on our app which are suitable for your diet which are made with no gluten containing ingredients and with processes in place to avoid the risk of contamination, providing you with more choice and confidence when shopping.

We are currently working closely with our commercial partners to encourage them to commit to labelling more products gluten free, so that it’s easier for everyone in our gluten free community to make the right choices.

Always up to date

As products can change, we update our database daily to capture these changes and to keep your app up to date so you know you are getting the best information. We know there are some supermarkets and brands that aren’t on our database and we are working hard across our networks to improve this. This year our community helped to get one major supermarket brand back into our app (thank you!) and we have more new partnerships coming on board soon too.

You can let us know about which brands, supermarkets or products you’d like to see on the app in future by emailing foodanddrink@coeliac.org.uk. We’ll be sending out a survey in February asking for your views and experiences and any specific products you would like to see labelled gluten free. We will then share your feedback with our commercial partners, to help us make change that supports our community.

Further questions

You can find a list of Frequently Asked Questions below. If you have any product queries then please get in touch by emailing foodanddrink@coeliac.org.uk.

“What else does the app offer?”

You can find out more than what is and isn’t suitable for a gluten free diet, with additional features in the app which we know our members find valuable.

The majority of products listed have a full ingredients list, allergen statements and the nutritional values for that product. 

We also have a number of ready made lists, grouping together suitable products from a brand or category to make it easier for you to search or find new products on a gluten free diet.

Alongside this you’ll also find helpful guides on the gluten free diet, and a handy shopping list function and favourite products tool.

If you have additional dietary requirements, you can add up to 14 dietary preferences to your profile, to make sure you only see what’s suitable for you. For example, if you are avoiding milk, you can select this in your profile and products with that ingredient will not be recommended. You can also opt not to see products containing oats.

We know this feature is used by nearly a quarter of our app users and it’s an important part of these members’ experience.

 

“How do I get the app?”

Gluten Free Food Checker is free to download for all Coeliac UK members, whether you have digital or complete membership.

Download from the Apple App Store for iOS devices or the Google Play Store for Android devices. If you are not a member, but would like to use the app, join now to start using the app today!

This app will work on iPhone models 4 and above and Android smartphones with software 6.0 and above that can download apps from the Google Play store.

 

What our members say

"Thank you for all your advice and support. Our daughter was diagnosed with coeliac disease last year and your website and Gluten Free Food Checker app has been invaluable.”

“I have recommended others to join for the extensive information available and the Gluten Free Food Checker app, which makes shopping so much easier.”

“I would strongly advise anyone following a gluten free diet to join Coeliac UK. The information I receive is vital to ensure I remain gluten free. There are always handy tips on eating out, recipes, new products and the Gluten Free Food Checker app is brilliant when I am out shopping.”

 

Already using the app?

We want to hear from you! Drop us an email, get in touch on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or leave us a review on the app stores to let us know what you think.

 

Not a member?

Join us from just £1.25 a month to access the app today!