Gluten-Free Shoppers Report Food Scarcity and Soaring Prices

We are finding that stores like Sprouts are switching our favorites to the "Plant Based" trend and not all are gluten free. Also many are not very good (just like gluten free ready made meals were in the beginning). 

I suggest freezing our favorite flours, etc. to insure you have some on-hand when supplies are short. Also, if it is a paper packaging I would seal in air tight bags to avoid it absorbing any freezer flavors.

I have refractory celiac and I am having a very hard time finding the foods I need. Amazon and other large companies are carrying some, but they have increased the prices to unrealistic amounts. I can’t change to fruits and vegetables because I can’t digest fiber so I have had to resort to mostly nutritional drinks like boost. This has been a terrible time for me and other celiacs. People who eat gluten-free as a preference need to understand that celiacs depend on gluten-free food to live.

3 hours ago, Lisa Levy said:

I have refractory celiac and I am having a very hard time finding the foods I need. Amazon and other large companies are carrying some, but they have increased the prices to unrealistic amounts. I can’t change to fruits and vegetables because I can’t digest fiber so I have had to resort to mostly nutritional drinks like boost. This has been a terrible time for me and other celiacs. People who eat gluten-free as a preference need to understand that celiacs depend on gluten-free food to live.

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear this.  It has been a very difficult at times trying to get basics.  I was told gluten free food was being bought by people without gluten related issues, as an alternative to normal pasta etc, when it ran out.  I wish something could be done about this. 

This is an interesting article, thanks Jefferson.  I'm British and although a member of Coeliac UK didn't know about this survey.  It explains a lot.  Our local Sainsbury's store - one of the smaller ones, admittedly - hasn't been able to obtain the bread I eat at times, and now it seems to have done away with gluten free frozen fries, or chips as we call them. in the UK.   It also seems to only sell gluten free substitutes for cookies and crackers with made pure oats as the main ingredient in them, other types seem more difficult to get hold of.

Very disappointing here in Lower Delaware:  The gluten-free sections in supermarkets have been steadily shrinking for the last couple years.  I used to have plentiful options, but now have to hit multiple stores hoping for options.  Especially bad is when favorite products just disappear never to be seen again.  

The 2 nearest supermarkets now no longer have gluten-free sections, but mix gluten-free in with the regular products.  This makes my shopping much more difficult.

It is not just in the UK that things like this are happening.  I live in the U.S, in Pennsylvania and all I ever see on store shelves now are cookies, mug cakes and the same pasta and basic cheese pizza.  They also have 50 types of gluten free bread, but most of them are cross contaminated.  I really think there is more going on than shortages, because of the fact that they only ever seem to not have a shortage of the latest fad diet food.  I mean when it was a fad they supposedly had no problem supplying numerous fad based products, but now that everyone has moved on, suddenly getting the products is difficult?!  There is also the fact that the stores here will stick gluten free flour right next to gluten flour in aisles and the gluten flour is nine times out of ten, all over the aisles.  Honestly I think it is time for celiacs to speak up.  The folks that we rely on do not see us as worthwhile people, just dollar signs, or difficult.  They don't respect us and they don't really care farther than they are required to.  I think Celiac folks need to start a worldwide petition, make our voices heard, let the industry know that just because we aren't profitable, doesn't mean that we aren't still here.  We are still people and we deserve the same respect as everyone else!  If anyone knows how to start a worldwide petition, I will start one, I am totally ready and totally sick of being treated like second best, just because of a disease that I have no choice about.

We should encourage non ceoliacs the to buy gluten free as the bigger the market for gluten free the more likely the producers will supply what we need and the greater the choice will be.

This is already happening, as 15-25% of people in the USA report being on some form of gluten-free diet, which is well above the ~1-2% rate of celiac disease.

Start a wheat boycot.