Finding Cheap Gluten Free Products

Moots on 23/05/2013 - 14:09

I have a very close friend of mine that now has to cut out gluten. It's her birthday shortly and due to the expense of the products she doesn't really know what to get etc etc.

I want to just get her a whole heap of different stuff, my question is. Where is the cheapest place to buy Gluten free products. Considering 1 fruit bar at Coles is around $3 each?

Online or In-store around Parramatta, Blacktown area.

This is a general question and not a specific item. Does not belong to the "Find me a bargain" forum.

General Discussion

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 23/05/2013 - 14:26
    +1

    Rite Price grocery stores (if they have them in NSW) usually have quite a number of GF products.

    Bulk Food Stores, especially for alternative flours (potato, tapioca, rice, corn/maize)

    Also be aware that regular supermarkets are filled with GF products, they're not just in the expensive "Health Food" section.

    • Regular Potato and Corn Chips (unflavoured and some flavours) are naturally GF (as are Cheezels)
    • Rice Crackers (even most of the Flavoured ones) are GF
    • Some of the Coles/Woolies Brand Jellies are GF
    • Most Dairy Products are GF
    • Polenta is GF
    • Most sauces are GF these days
    • Most sausages are GF these days and non-marinated meat is fine.

    Remember that if the product is unlikely to contain Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye then it's most likely to be GF and a quick read of the Ingredients list will usually confirm your suspicions. (Be cautious of anything with a thickener, they can contain "hidden" Gluten, but it will be listed on the Ingredient List)
    It doesn't take long to know which products/brands are OK and which are not and common sense usually sorts out the rest.

  • samfisher5986 on 23/05/2013 - 14:45

    Coles/Woolworths are actually very cheap in comparison to other stores.

    You generally won't find cheaper prices unless there is a sale at an online store or the online store offers bulk discount.

    Being gluten free myself my suggestion are decent lollies as its difficult to find and 100% of it at the supermarket has gluten last time I checked.

    Also make sure you know how sensitive they are, many people can have trace amounts of gluten which is great because there doesn't appear to be a legal requirement to mention if there might be traces of gluten due to shared equipment etc.

    For example A jar of sauce doesn't specify any gluten on the jar, but go on the website and it mentions that it might have traces of it.

    Just to be specific on what scuvacoles said.

    red rock deli plain corn chips, plain chips, smiths plain are gluten free. Everything else in your common chips brands will generally have gluten.

    Make sure your sausages specify gluten free on the packaging otherwise assume it has gluten.

    • ESEMCE on 23/05/2013 - 16:48

      Being gluten free myself my suggestion are decent lollies as its difficult to find and 100% of it at the supermarket has gluten last time I checked.

      Check the Coles Brand lollies… they're made in Germany and use Maize Starch.
      Some of the Woolies Brand are made in China and similarly use Maize.

      Also make sure you know how sensitive they are, many people can have trace amounts of gluten which is great because there doesn't appear to be a legal requirement to mention if there might be traces of gluten due to shared equipment etc.

      There's a labelling Code of Practice for Allergens (not a law) that also applies to trace amounts. The vast majority of food (especially Australian Made) adheres to the Code. It's pretty easy to spot if they do.. Allergenic Ingredients will be listed in Bold type AND will be listed in a warning below the Ingredients list.
      The Generic Brand Products are compliant and there are very strict Audits to ensure compliance.

      red rock deli plain corn chips, plain chips, smiths plain are gluten free. Everything else in your common chips brands will generally have gluten.

      Trace amounts are likely in the flavoured varieties, but not all flavours contain gluten.

      Make sure your sausages specify gluten free on the packaging otherwise assume it has gluten.

      Agreed, that advice runs true for any product

      • samfisher5986 on 23/05/2013 - 18:15

        You might be right about labeling code of practice, but I've caught out quite a few labels that did this.

        I've looked through so many woolies brand lollies and always found it was "from wheat" so I'll have another look at Coles.

        • ESEMCE on 24/05/2013 - 08:11

          I work in the Food Industry SamFisher, I KNOW that the Code of Practice is adhered to and Audited strictly! Especially for Generic Brands.. Those products are Coles/Woolworths Brand! They protect their Brand more fiercely than any food manufacturer protects their own brand.

          Here is the Australian Food and Grocery Council Policy on Allergen Labelling:
          http://www.allergenbureau.net/downloads/allergen-guide/Aller…
          (Section 5 is most relevant)
          and here is the relevant section of the Food Standards Code, ie the LAW (which is stricter than I recall)
          http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2011C00610
          (Section 4 is most relevant)

          Woolies, have cut back the Chinese stuff a lot. Spearmint Leaves and Jubes were Chinese last time I checked.

        • samfisher5986 on 24/05/2013 - 10:53

          Then perhaps I should report a few brands from products I have purchased as they are not putting traces of gluten etc on their packaging but they have it on their website.

        • ESEMCE on 24/05/2013 - 13:19
          +1

          There was (I'm not in food manufacture anymore, I'm now in Food Packaging, so my knowledge is a little rusty even though most of the same standards apply to us) a grace period to run out non-compliant packaging.
          That may still be in force.
          Or possibly their website is being overly cautious, or hasn't been updated since they went all GF.

          Contact the manufacturer directly, there's a chance you may score some free stuff for pointing out any errors!

  • leeroys_dad on 23/05/2013 - 14:57

    visit your state's "coeliac society" (in qld it's called qld coeliac society) and ask them for advice… you could probably even get free samples from them! my folks volunteer there and when we helped them move office we had a free lunch. ha

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2013 - 16:37
    +4

    http://www.groceryrun.com.au/index.php

    Grocery Run might be able to help you out today

    • samfisher5986 on 23/05/2013 - 18:15

      Thanks for posting this.. never would have seen it otherwise.

      • Moots on 23/05/2013 - 18:42

        Amazing spotting. This is exactly what I needed! Cheers!

    • ESEMCE on 24/05/2013 - 08:13

      Rite Price is significantly cheaper and local, but I just looked it up and its SA Only apparently.
      They specialise in selling off food that is past the Best Before Date, or approaching the BB Date.
      They have a decent amount that is GF, although stock varies from week to week.

  • m0nkeycheese on 23/05/2013 - 18:16

    If you are baking just substitute gluten free flour for the regular stuff. Then you can use any recipe (like bake a cake)

  • dowanted on 24/05/2013 - 23:40

    I would recommend the Woolworths Macro range, which is almost entirely gluten free.

    There are some delicious sweets - biscuits, cakes, etc - in the Macro range that are very well priced, in addition to the flours and the like. Honestly, almost every other specific gluten free product (intended for celiacs) is overpriced. It's kind of sad, so I generally just stick with Woolworths and other products that are naturally gluten free.

    Don't buy the fruit bars; you can get a whole pack of biscuits for the same price. And I think it's very sweet of you to be going to so much effort for this friend.

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