Vicky Parry
31st Jul 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Gluten free food is much easier to come by than ever before – but it comes with an increased price tag. Which doesn’t seem very fair, raising the grocery bill for coeliacs who can’t help their gluten allergy!
So here we present to you our guide to Gluten Free eating on a budget. We’ve also covered the difference between a gluten intolerance and Coeliac disease, to help understand how it might impact people.
What is Coeliac disease?
According to charity Coeliac UK, their definition of the disease is “Coeliac disease (pronounced see-liac and spelled celiac in other countries) is a serious illness where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues when you eat gluten. This causes damage to the lining of the gut and means the body can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. Coeliac disease is not an allergy or food intolerance.
If you have diagnosis of this life altering disease then your food cannot even be prepared near gluten. The smallest trace can have a damaging impact from any cross-contamination and cause a horrendous flare in symptoms.
Coeliac UK state that “Symptoms range from mild to severe, and can include bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, wind, constipation, tiredness, mouth ulcers, sudden or unexpected weight loss (but not in all cases), and anaemia.”
It is often misdiagnosed as IBS. However once you are diagnosed, treatment is a very strict Gluten Free diet. If you are on a budget this can be very intimidating, as the cost of such products are often higher than their gluten counterparts.
What is available to people with Coeliac Disease
Post-diagnosis, the world of freebies opens up to you.
Prescription
With diagnosis you can access your specialist food on prescription. This is without a doubt the cheapest option. If your doctor has diagnosed you with Coeliac disease, you might be eligible for Gluten Free staple foods on prescription. Just like getting medicine on prescription, your GP can write a prescription for Gluten Free staple food which you can collect from your pharmacist. What is available on prescription depends on where you live. Gluten Free company Glutafin state that: “The single prescription charge in England is £9.90 (July 2025). Each different category of Gluten Free food counts as one prescription charge (e.g. if you wanted bread and flour mix they would be two separate prescription charges).
Therefore, we would recommend that if you are taking a regular Gluten Free prescription, you should opt for a prepaid prescription. A prepaid prescription covers the cost of all of your Gluten free items for £2 per week. It should also be added that if you are on Universal Credit or don’t pay for prescriptions, you are still eligible. You may be eligible for free NHS prescriptions if you have other health conditions or are on a low income.
In Wales, from autumn 2025, people who get food on prescription can also use a gluten free subsidy card, which reduces the price of other gluten-free foods in the supermarkets.
Trials and freebies
This is where the freebies come in. Lots of companies want to vye for your prescription, so they send you freebies to try and get you to use them.
Gluten Free But Not Coeliac
This section is for people who don’t have a diagnosis of Coeliac Disease. As many of the trials are for people on prescriptions, a diagnosis is needed. So to access the free stuff that is very necessary, we highly recommend working towards a diagnosis.
We are however aware that if you are not in the UK, this alone can be very costly, so we have added some ideas for everyone. However, while there are lots of things still available without gluten, some of them won’t be absolute guaranteed devoid of cross-contamination. These options are strictly for people with an intolerance and not a diagnosed allergy.
Instagram is a goldmine of food that is “accidentally Gluten Free.” An ‘accidentally’ Gluten Free product is one which is outside of the Free fFom aisle, but doesn’t contain gluten, or have a ‘may contain’ warning for wheat, gluten etc.
Famous Gluten Free food blogger and Coeliac UK ambassador Becky Excell does a round up of all the accidental GF products in Sainsbury’s here.
- Becky Excell’s Instagram page here.
- Accidentally Gluten Free Instagram here.
- Accidentally Gluten Free UK Instagram here
A lot of the products shared don’t have the hefty free from price tag, so are a welcome relief.
Tips for Both
Gluten Free Food Fairs
Check out Coeliac UK here to find out when and where one will come to you. These fairs are often a goldmine of information and people leave with bags of free samples.
Food Shops
All major supermarkets now have a Free From range. This might be in a dedicated aisle, or the products could be on the shelves with their gluten counterparts. Make sure you read the labels carefully: not everything in a ‘free from’ range is gluten free – it could be dairy, egg, sugar, or other-thing-free.
Use supermarket loyalty cards to reduce the price, too. Advanced tech learns what you like to buy, so can give you tailored offers that other customers might not be able to access. You can also save loyalty points over the course of a few months to get vouchers or points to reduce the cost of your grocery shop.
When shopping online, lots of supermarkets also allow you to shop a Gluten Free version of the site, allowing you to see accidental GF foods too. This, however, should always be double-checked, as mistakes can occur.
Make the Most of Yellow Stickers
If you learn more about which foods are naturally gluten free, you’ll know what to spot in the yellow-sticker section, or make the most of buy-one-get-one-free offers. Fresh fruit and veg, whole meat and poultry (ie not processed meats, sausages etc) and unbreaded fish will always be a good bet – and often the most common things in the reduced section.
Apps
One last thing would be to look at Coeliac UK’s App. With this, you can scan foods with your phone to see if they have the definate GF sign of approval.
MoneyMagpie is not an affiliated medical company and are in no way claiming to be a knowledge on Coeliac Disease. We are however highlighting that money can be saved in this area. We are flagging things that have been previously raised by registered bodies.
