In some stores the mobile phone signal will be patchy, you may not have access to a smartphone, or might just be short for time. In these cases you can capture the information on our handy print out Data Collection Table - Coeliac UK and complete it online later. Click here for an example of how to complete the table.   If you have a smartphone we recommend taking photographs to check against as you complete the survey at home.  

Yes, we would be very grateful if you would complete the survey when you do food shopping, on as many occasions as you can, during the time that the survey is open (2 June until 25 August 2023). Across our community, we want to capture as much information as is possible across different instore and online store shopping experiences, on different days and times. We would like to build a picture of the cost and availability of gluten free products in store and online. 

Yes, absolutely! Our aim is to gather as much information as we can, please feel free to do it as many times as you're able. Whether it's completed at the same store but at a different time or different day, or a completely different store will give a wider picture of cost and availability at any given time. 

The questions around the number of products on shelf aims to give a general sense of the availability of the product. It’s not an audit or inventory, so an approximation is fine and the answer options are in ranges to allow for this. TIP: For example, if you can see the front of four packs of penne pasta on the shelf, you can look behind to count the number of rows so 4 faces x 4 rows = roughly 16 products. It doesn’t matter if some rows are not fully stocked, this is sufficient as an approximation.

In order to better understand your shopping experiences, we want to capture as many shopping trips/orders as possible. To make this easier, we will ask you to create a unique code, which will include the first three letters of your surname and the first three numbers of your date of birth. For example, if your name is John Smith and your birthday is 23/04/1975, your unique identifier would be SMI230. The most important thing is that you put the same code in every time so we can track shopping experiences. 

Good question but with an easy answer! We are a small team and as a charity we have limited funds, but by seeking help from our community we are able to collect enough robust data to support the case for change.

In order to better understand your shopping experiences, we want to capture as many shopping trips/orders as possible. To make this easier, we will ask you to create a unique code, which will include the first three letters of your surname and the first three numbers of your date of birth. For example, if your name is John Smith and your birthday is 23/04/1975, your unique identifier would be SMI230. The most important thing is that you put the same code in every time so we can track shopping experiences. 

Nowadays you can buy kits to test for gluten in food at home or when out and about. We are aware of the test kit called Nima which is a handheld device to test for the presence of gluten. We know that many people would like to be able to have the option of using such a test but it is important to look at how they work and what they are really telling you before buying. Firstly in all tests the results can be affected by a whole range of factors including the size and what the sample is made up of. Most meals will be made up of many different parts – different vegetables, fish or meat. Testing a small sample of a certain meal will not necessarily represent the gluten content of the complete meal.

For the kits to work it is also important to make sure that all gluten is taken out of the food for testing using the chemicals provided. It is therefore very important to follow the manufacturers’ guidance on using the test kits. The Nima kit is designed to tell you if gluten is found (if yes a wheat symbol is displayed) or no gluten found (when a smiley face is shown). The kit is not designed to tell you the level of gluten found and whether it meets the labelling law on gluten free – in other words it cannot say it is less than 20 ppm of gluten. This means it may tell you that a food has gluten in but is actually legally gluten free. The kit may not work when the sample is too large. It also cannot be used on foods that contain fermented food such as beer, hydrolysed foods such as soy sauce and foods containing alcohol. In these cases the sensor may incorrectly show a no gluten found (smiley face) message. It is important to keep up to date with what foods the test can be used on accurately.

Nima was launched in January 2017 in the US. We have been monitoring its progress and on 1 September 2018, the first publication of data on the development of Nima featured in the Journal of Food Chemistry and a further publication in the Journal of Food Protection on the use of NIMA with thirteen different foods, including its limitations. A 2021 publication in Frontiers Nutrition showed the variation in test results between users and highlighted the importance of improving user education such as understanding the appropriate sample size. We have seen a demonstration of the device and continue to monitor the evidence carefully to assess whether the product will be a useful tool for people with coeliac disease.

Wheat, a cereal that contains gluten, is the only substance authorised by the Roman Catholic Church to make Eucharistic bread.

There are special ‘low gluten’ hosts that have been approved for use by individuals with coeliac disease when taking Communion. These products contain wheat starch, but are within the levels for labelling gluten free. Other churches allow communion wafers to be taken which are made entirely from gluten free ingredients and often suppliers will sell two different varieties.

A number of companies produce communion wafers that are suitable for people with coeliac disease. These are often available via mail order. Please see our communion wafer list for a full list of suppliers and the wafers available. Before ordering as an individual it is worth talking to your church as their usual church supplier can sometimes order these for you and minimise delivery charges.

To reduce the risk of contamination with gluten from gluten containing hosts, we would advise that your communion wafers are stored and presented separately. Some people may prefer to abstain from taking communion in the conventional way and have a blessing instead.