Frequently Asked Questions Find everything you need to know about coeliac disease, the gluten free diet and the work we do.
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Do you conduct research at Coeliac UK or do you only fund research?
How do I get my gluten free products listed for prescriptions?
The ACBS (Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances) is a non departmental public body, owned by the Department of Health. Its job is to recommend to GPs which products that are not drugs or medical devices can be prescribed to patients.
If you want to have your product listed on the prescribable list, it must be approved by the ACBS Committee. The products do not need ACBS approval to be sold in the UK, but they cannot be prescribed by a GP without ACBS approval.
You can find further information on the Department of Health website.
How can Coeliac UK help promote my product?
With a highly engaged audience and a membership database of over 60,000 people, we will give you access to a large proportion of the gluten free community.
We can help you get your marketing message out and help you tap in to our engaged gluten free audiences through our print and online services and face to face through our highly popular food fairs around the country.
For more information see our marketing opportunities section or contact our Commercial Team.
Where can I find gluten free products available to food service?
Food Service and Catering products are listed on our online Food and Drink Information section of our website.
Where can I find out more about food labelling?
Our section on Food Labels contains a lot of information about how to label food products.
Additional information can be found on the Food Standards Agency website.
How can I prevent contamination of gluten free foods?
Cross contamination can occur in storage, preparation and serving. Here are some tips to help prevent the problem occurring:
- gluten free foods must never be prepared on a wheat floured surface or in a floury atmosphere
- wash down surfaces before preparing gluten free food
- wash hands before handling gluten free food (especially after other food preparation)
- use separate utensils, for example, a separate toaster for gluten free bread; separate bread boards; separate containers for butter, margarine, chutney, pickle, jam etc, as knives can transfer crumbs from regular bread
- cook and serve gluten free foods in separate dishes
- do not deep fry gluten free foods in oil which has been used for foods that contain gluten such as batters or breadcrumb coatings.
For more detailed information about preventing cross contamination take our online catering training course.
Do you offer any catering training?
Yes, we offer different types of training for caterers to suit your needs – in house face to face training, a bespoke online course and online training.
To find out more about our training options visit our training for caterers page or contact us at CateringTraining@coeliac.org.uk to find out more.
How can my catering business become accredited?
We have a great gluten free accreditation in place that is widely recognised and trusted by the gluten free community. You can become GF accredited by applying and adhering to our gluten free standards.
To find out more on how to become accredited, head over to our gluten free accreditation page.
Are there any incentives for pharmacists taking part in the Community pharmacy supply of gluten-free foods scheme?
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.