Caterers can decide how best to provide the information. Many have separate allergen menus. There are options for caterers to provide the information in a range of ways including orally, but if they do this they must make it clear to customers where to ask for the information and make sure it is always up to date.

The Food Information Regulation specifies that cereals containing gluten, including barley in the form of barley malt extract, must be emphasised in the ingredients list as barley is one of the 14 allergens. The gluten-free label means that the product does not contain more than 20 part per million (ppm) gluten, and when a gluten-containing grain like barley is listed in the ingredients list the level of gluten in the final product will be in line with the law on gluten-free and therefore suitable for people with coeliac disease.

If a product is labelled gluten-free and contains barley malt extract, the product will contain no more than 20 ppm gluten and can be included in a gluten-free diet.

Fundamental Member services, such as the Food and Drink Directory and Venue Guide, are resource intensive regardless of how many access the service. Additionally, for publications, the fewer people who buy the publication, the more expensive it will become per item sold as a lower print run drives the printing price up. But, if there is a significant enough shift by the majority of our Membership towards accessing information online over printed publications, we will then be in a position to review how we deliver these services.

We review the scheme and its efficiencies every year to make sure we continue to deliver a value for money Membership. We only make changes to the Membership fee when it is necessary and we are building up other services and initiatives with the aim to provide additional income in the future to support our range of services.

We’ve looked at other health charities to benchmark our services and offering with our fee. We have found that although our fees are very similar to these charities, and in some cases lower, we offer more Membership benefits with our scheme.

Our Membership demographic is broad and varied, and the level of service and support our Members need also varies depending on where they sit in the diagnosis journey. For that reason, we have developed a range of services that will meet this broad range of needs and 95% of our Members feel their Membership provides good value for money. 

We will still offer the different Membership fee categories and payment options, for example a Direct Debit for £2 per month, if appropriate for you. We never want the Membership fee to be a barrier to information and are more than happy to discuss your Membership on a case by case basis. Please contact our Helpline team on 0333 332 2033 or email generalenquiries@coeliac.org.uk

The revised fees came into effect from November 2014.

Introducing a pharmacy led supply scheme allows better stock control of gluten-free foods for pharmacists as well as providing a more flexible service to improve the patient experience.

Pharmacists and GP dispensaries are paid a service charge at six monthly intervals for each patient who accesses the service. When the scheme in Northamptonshire was introduced it was run as an Enhanced Service with funding for this element of the contract coming from Primary Care Contracting budgets.