One of the negative aspects of receiving vouchers from the Department of Health under Schedule V as opposed to the actual food is that any increase in the price of the gluten free food reduces the quantity of food that may be bought.
Whilst it is not our intention of going into the merits of the prices in the local supermarkets and whether increased competition had any effect on the overall level of prices, the Association is becoming aware that there are three specific issues that have a real bearing on the prices that coeliacs will have to pay, namely:
- As a result of BREXIT, items manufactured in the UK will be subject to additional taxation;
- There has been a substantial increase in the prices of raw materials, particularly the price of rice flour, one of the basic ingredients in the preparation of gluten free food; and
- Freight costs have already gone up considerably.
This information is taken from an article written by Zoe Wood that appeared in the English newspaper The Guardian of the 17th July 2021.
Whilst we do not wish to alarm members by this, we believe that everyone needs to be aware of what is happening around us and that this is another situation which should lead coeliacs to focus on what is naturally gluten free in their diet and minimise reliance on the prepared/processed gluten free food available in retail outlets.