Shopping with food allergies in the UK

From travelling abroad, and chatting online to people who are planning on travelling here, I've discovered that sometimes you need local knowledge to assist you in finding what you're looking for. This post is aimed at those from outside the UK, who are wondering how they'll get on, if they come to the UK! BUT if you're new to food allergies and living here in the UK, you may also find this post helpful!

Supermarkets

Britain has a number of large supermarket chains. Some of which are better than others at catering to the Free From market. Foods that are produced particularly for those who have special diets, are often lumped together in a section known as 'Free From'. Please note that this is not a legal term, but just one that seems to have made its way in to general usage!

Mostly, the Free From aisles in UK supermarkets often seem to major on those who are gluten free, but they often stock a large range of dairy free milk products too - they're just usually found next to the UHT milk or in the chiller section! However, if you examine food labels, you can often find other products that may prove suitable - if you apply directly to the supermarkets, they can send you a list.

Something for everyone! This is the range of dairy free milk available in one Tesco Extra store.

Unfortunately, if you are suffering from other allergies, such as egg or nut, you might not find yourself quite so well served, although Tesco have started to display egg free logos on some of their Free From products.

I find Tesco and Sainsbury's tend to have the biggest ranges - but you usually need to locate their big out of town stores. The area tends to dictate how good the range might be. If it's based in a wealthier area, for example, the Free From range tends to be much larger and more varied. It's what we, in the UK, refer to as a 'postcode lottery'.

That said, you can often find a few dairy free milks in most smaller supermarkets, even in those that are convenience store size, but don't expect too much else, except maybe a soya-based spread or yoghurt!

Sainsbury's 'Free From' aisle, Ashford, Kent

If the Tesco is as good as the one at Brooklands, in Surrey, then you'll find a brilliant Free From aisle, Freezer section and also a chiller section. As well as a varied range of long life and chilled dairy free milk, and the usual chilled spreads, such as Pure, and soya-based cheese and yogurt products, Tesco have recently started selling great dairy free dessert products, such as Pudology. 

In the right Tesco, you can also find Co-yo, a dairy and soya free yogurt product, that up until now, you'd only find in a health food shop, as well as Violife - a dairy and soya free cheese, that again has been hard to get hold of, until now, but is proving popular among the dairy free! There's even dairy free iced coffee, although that's located near the 'normal' iced-coffee, in my store! That's the funny thing about Tesco - it seems there's no standard lay-out. In some stores, some of the chilled Free From products are dotted about and not kept together, so keep your eyes peeled!

Tesco 'Free From' chilled range

Sainsbury's, meanwhile, doesn't have much more than dairy free milk, some spread and soya yoghurt in their chiller cabinet, but their Free From freezer department has a few gems and I do appreciate the expansion of Sainsbury's free from confectionery. It's where I like to go for dairy free chocolate! They stock the very popular dairy and gluten free chocolate known as 'Moo Free,' alongside their own brand and Kinnerton, which is also nut free.

I also like Asda, whose range has definitely improved, over the last year, and Waitrose, which tends to stock more higher end free from merchandise, such as Booja Booja. I'm so thrilled that I can now go to Waitrose and buy a fabulous dairy free ice cream imported from the US. I am not such a fan of Morrison's or Co-op, as, in my experience,  their range tends to be quite small, although I have heard that some Morrisons stock a dairy free cheese known as 'Cheezly'. UPDATE May 2016: Morrison's have recently expanded their Free From ranges- they now stock a lot more products, so if you live nearby, take a look!

'Free From' aisle, Asda, Chandler's Ford, Hampshire

Marks and Spencers have finally begun to take note of the Free From market. The other year they brought out some some gluten free products and last year followed suite with a 'Made Without Dairy' range of milks, dairy free spread and even chocolate! However, only the larger ones seem to really be worth visiting. 

Smaller chains such as Aldi and Lidl, don't really stock much in the way of Free From products, down my way, but do seem to flirt with the idea from time to time! I got really excited when Aldi began to stock a few items not so long ago - a loaf and some soup, but these soon disappeared. However, Lidl has just recently advertised a gluten free promotion.


Ocado

Is an online supermarket, but is not available in the whole of the UK. You may need a UK-based friend or relative to supply an address, to where you can get your stuff ordered. They have a fantastic Free From range, which is much better than the other supermarkets, and their website has a very useful filtering system to help you work out which products are suitable for you. The only draw-back is the delivery fee! Find out more here.


Vegan & Health Food Shops

There are other options for Free From shopping other than the supermarkets - I often visit my local independent health food shops. Independent stores can be slightly more expensive, but often stock products that chains will not and, in my experience, might be open to trying or ordering in products that you've seen online, but can't buy elsewhere!


Holland and Barrett

Holland and Barrett is a well-known health food chain store, found in high streets, throughout the UK. It very much depends on the shop as to how good the Free From range happens to be. Some stores have a chiller and freezer section and some do not. Bizarrely, the best stores are not always in the biggest towns. So, for example, I live near Southampton, Winchester and Eastleigh. Of all of these, Eastleigh is the smaller town, but has the better range!

Good branches of Holland and Barrett will stock a good range of dairy free UHT milk and yogurt, including this dairy and soya free yogurt. They sell Booja Booja dairy and soya free ice cream, some gluten free and Vegan frozen pies, as well as a variety of dairy free cheeses. They are also expanding their chilled ranges to include Violife cheese and Pudology's new dairy and soya free yogurts!!

Dairy free chocolate can also be found here, particularly at Easter and Christmas, when their range quite noticeably expands!


London

London has some amazing Health Food and Vegan shops where you can find some great Free From products:

Whole Foods Market The biggest is the one in Kensington, where, in fact, there's so much choice, it's bewildering! Whole Foods Market also have a cafe!

Vegan X Is a Vegan clothing and food store, based near King's Cross.

Whole Foods Market, Clapham Junction, London

Home Counties

The Home Counties (the outlying counties clustered around London) are also generally quite well served - both by the supermarkets, and health food shops, on the whole.

If you find yourself in Surrey, check out Food for Thought is a good-sized health food shop that has two branches in Surrey - one in Kingston and the other (larger one) in Guildford.

In Hampshire, there's a large Vegan store in Southampton, which I have yet to visit!


The Regions

However, here are one or two gems out in the more regional areas of the UK that are worth knowing about:

Alternative Stores in Newcastle also have an online store that delivers throughout the UK

Goodness Direct are mainly an online Health Food Shop, but are based in the Northampton are. You can pick up your shopping direct from their base in Daventry, if you are based nearby.

And here (based on personal experience) is where to go on the Isle of Wight!

However, keep your eyes peeled, 'cos Free From food can turn up in the strangest of places! I've noted some short runs of dairy free milk and other products in 99p shops, whilst some garden centres, and farm shops also now stock free from. Just look at these products, found in Haskin's Garden Centre, near Southampton:

OK, I admit it's mostly gluten free! 

Scotland

From what I can gather Scotland, like any parts of the north, doesn't seem quite as well served as some other parts of the UK. 


Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is another case in point, altogether! Shipping seems to be the major problem, in this case. For anyone travelling to this part of the UK, I would suggest you contact Laura of Dairy Free Kids (via Face Book or @dairyfreekids, on Twitter). She's from the Republic of Ireland, but is probably still likely to know more than I about shopping in Northern Ireland!



Reading Food Labels

All food products in the UK must be labelled according to the EU's new regulations see here for clarification. This is meant to help food shoppers with allergies find out which food will be suitable for them. It also applies to food sold in cafes/restaurants whether sold loose or packed. 

Some manufacturers may include extra advice, concerning the risks of any products made alongside other products containing relevant allergens, but they are not required to do so, by law. In fact, sometimes this can be more of a hindrance, as some stores, afraid of being prosecuted seem to slap 'may contain' warnings on almost everything! 

If you have a dairy allergy, take particular care when buying Vegan products listed as 'dairy free' they may not be quite as free from dairy as you assume - they're often manufactured on the same lines as dairy products, so check their labels! I have been caught out by this several times, so do take care!


Over to you!

Do you live here in the UK, and have something to add? Or, have you visited here and made some great finds? Please add your top tips in the comments section below! 

Many thanks and Happy Free From Shopping!


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Home Sweet (new) Home

Well we're in! The move has taken place! It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. though. 

It's meant to be one of the most stressful things you can do, right? I really can't tell you the number of times during this process that I've wished for the ability to nip out and get a quick take-away - no cooking/washing-up would have made things a lot easier! And we're still not fully settled - curtain poles to put up, boxes STILL to unpack etc. We have so much STUFF! I can't decide what to do with it/where to put it all! BUT! at least the place is functional. We even have the Internet again (phew)! The Hub had some device to tide us over, but certain things were off-limits such as iplayer, as it meant we used up our monthly allowance rather too quickly! (Oops! Someone should have explained it to me first, maybe?)

A little extra from our mortgage company, most of which is useless to me, but our guests may well see the benefit!

I'm beginning to get my bearings of our new surroundings now (well, not completely new - I've lived here before but quite some time ago). We're getting to know which parks, soft play etc. are worth a visit but there's certain things that I'm definitely missing!!

One is my former health food shop. OK, so it was a bit of a drive but it was so excellent. There's two near me now but neither stock any where NEAR the same amount of stuff as 'Food for Thought', in Guildford (there's another in Kingston). They seem willing to try new products/order stuff in, but I've been a bit disappointed, so far - one is permanently out of stock of the products she says that she stocks, the other one tried to order in Mrs Crimble's pancake mix, but it didn't arrive.

Then there's the supermarkets. My former Tesco at Brooklands definitely did a lot better for choice than my current Tesco Extra although I think Sainsbury's is just about the same. Our new Waitrose, is bigger but it doesn't sell our ice cream (Besssant and Drury) or 'Baby's' favourite sausages (The Black Farmer's Daughter's, in fact she won't eat any others, at the mo) and it ran out of the Antoinette Saville gluten free bread that I rely on - the only one that seems to really suit my gut! 

However, it's not all bad. 'Every cloud has a silver lining,' as they say. In fact, this 'cloud' seems to have not just one, but multiple silver linings!

First of all, we can still get Ocado here (BIG phew, as I rely on their Free From foods range SO much!) and secondly I discovered that this Tesco  still stocks the same new gluten and dairy free products that I liked before. I have also discovered that although this Tesco might not stock Mrs Crimble's pancake mix (which has almost become an essential item in my shopping basket, as we make them at least once a week, for breakfast) Amazon do - in packs of ten admittedly, but at least we're stocked up for a while now! And yes, I could make them from scratch (as some lady behind me in the queue at Tescos' 'Customer Service' desk helpfully' suggested - as if I were a bit stupid/lazy) but then 'Baby' wouldn't eat them (very fussy) so that wouldn't exactly do, would it?

Still on the shopping front, I came across 'Deli Divine' at the Allergy and Free From Show (well I didn't actually get a good look the stand, it was packed). It's a bit of a drive, but they are now within a reasonable distance, so I'm planning to visit them, at Netley, soon!

The next bit of silver in the lining is that I have discovered (by word of mouth - Internet searches didn't throw this one up) that our nearest chippy does gluten free fish and chips all day every Thursday - the nearest chippy to do that before was nearly half an hour's drive away. Needless to say, we have already availed ourselves of the opportunity to check out this one! 

Not bad at all! I always add my own veg, though!

I do wish I'd found them a little bit earlier! I did think of asking - after all, don't ask, don't get, but I wasn't feeling that brave and was sooo busy! They do have a large poster inside the shop, as I discovered when I went there, but since I'd never attempted buying fish and chips before I knew for sure, it was wasted on me! 

Can't understand why this wasn't on a sandwich board outside!

When we went there, the gluten free fish and chips were certainly popular - a brisk trade was being done and hardly any of it was for 'normal' fish and chips!

Not only, do I have a local gluten free fish and chippy, I also am not too far away from a gluten free cafe 'Celiacs Fayre' which I have visited before. I haven't made I there recently, but must do so soon, as I'm salivating over the thought of the chicken fajitas, that were being served the other week (she shared them on Face Book)!

More importantly, for me, another bit of silver lining is that I have discovered I can drink the water here! Now that might sound a bit weird to you, but in the last two places that we lived I discovered I couldn't. I had to drink bottled water (including in my tea and coffee) and cook my rice and pasta in it too! No idea why, but if I didn't, my gut became uncomfortable. 

The most important bit of the silver lining, though, is that we are now living in our own house in a particularly beautiful part of the South of England, with which I am already familiar and where some of my old college friends live, and where hopefully (all going to plan) we will live for some time to come - maybe even the for rest of our lives.

Food for Thought

'Food for Thought' is such a great name for a whole foods mini market, don't you agree?

We found them, for the first time, on Saturday in Guildford, following a bit of online research by The Hub. And what a find they were!

Tucked away in a side street, literally not much more than a few steps away from a main city centre shopping street, I can't help wishing that every town had one of these. Unfortunately, at the moment they have only two stores, one in Guildford and the other in Kingston.

Not quite as big as The Whole Foods market, that I visited, in Clapham, the other week, they nonetheless make good use of the space they've got and stock a pretty extensive range of specialist foods. In fact, it was a real Aladdin's Cave of goodies, I really had to restrain myself, from spending too much of The Hub's hard earned money!

The staff in the shop were quite friendly - one helpfully suggested that I might like to leave my cold purchases with them (whilst we shopped elsewhere) and return to pick them up later.  Bonus!! Being in town for the day, I happily accepted this offer.

However, I passed up the chance to buy more dairy free ice cream, - I've still got some in the freezer and was uncertain about getting it home. 

Co-yo's chocolate yoghurt soon found its way into my basket, though, closely followed by a larger tub of its natural version. I was delighted to restock my fridge with this dairy free yoghurt and was keen to try the chocolate flavour.

Another familiar face - Lucy's was in stock, as well. This time I bought a packet of mini cookies,  for taking out and about.

Amy's dairy, gluten and soya free macaroni cheese followed soon after - the first time I had seen this stocked any where, other than Goodness Direct or The Allergy Show. Its dairy and soya free version is not to be confused with their solely gluten free version, which seems to be much more widely available. Unfortunately, it's no good for us at all, as that version does contain dairy!

From the States and hard to find over here!

Joy of joys, their chocolate range was pretty good too - they stock my favourite chocolate bars, by Organica. Baby spotted their 'hamster chocolate' (Mini Moos by Moo Free) and, being a girl after my own heart, she made sure that also made it into my basket!!

All-in-all, it was a successful shopping trip. And now I know where they are, I'm sure that sometime or another I'll be back for more!!

Update:

This cream substitute really is quite yummy!

Just to let you know, I have been back. This time my top find was Soyatoo Rice Whip. Just like the squirty cream, I loved as a kid, this stuff is truly amazing! 

If you can't find it in your local health food store, try Amazon, or the Vegan Store. 

Okay, so I know, it's made with rice and there's a whole debate about rice going on right now (generally I avoid it as a daily milk substitute - just to be on the safe side) but I still eat rice, and being gluten free as well, have little choice but to consume it in baked goods too. Therefore, I think that in an occasional treat, like this hot chocolate (made with hazelnut milk) it should be alright.

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New to me - the Whole Foods Market

Last time I posted was pre-move. I was feeling the ties of our old environment and beginning to wonder why we were putting ourselves through all the stress. Now we've moved, I'm feeling some of the advantages -  a dishwasher, the garden, being closer to family and... to London.

London is one of those places that I love to visit and dip into, before retreating to the clearer air and space of home. Where we live now, we are close enough to do just that.

Today, The Hub suggested visiting Clapham Junction and the Whole Foods Market. I was up for that. I knew that there was one in Kensington, that I've been keen to visit, but Clapham is nearer and, with Baby, more 'doable'.

It wasn't 'til I got there, that I realised I'd been there some years before with my sister, when she lived just up the road. I'd written it off then as being a bit of a trendy hippy haunt (not my thing), but today, I got to see it with new eyes.

I had a hazy memory of a cafe, combined with a kind of health food store, and yes, it was pretty much as I remembered it, but what did it have in store for me now?

What a treat! A small tub for the journey home!

The first thing I caught sight of was the ice cream cabinet, which stocked all four flavours of my favourite dairy free ice cream. This was soon  to be followed by The Hub locating the only Genius loaf that I can get along with - the old style (unsliced) white. Great start!!

There was a goodly array of fresh fruit and veg. but I passed these by and went straight for the chiller. I was after Co-yo - a coconut based dairy free yoghurt. Yup! It was there! Being unable to tolerate soya, I was delighted to get my hands on this.

Next to the chiller was the freezer. I was slightly disappointed that the only Amy's  Kitchen's macaroni cheese in the cabinet wasn't dairy free - I'm still waiting to get my hands on this one, having passed up the chance at The Allergy Show. I picked up a Burrito though - I'm interested to see if my stomach will take to these.

It was by the freezer, that The Hub noticed that they sold insulated bags, for the transportation of frozen goods. Yippee!! However, it was just as well we bought our cold stuff just before our train was due to leave. The insulated bag claims that food can last up to three hours (depending on how much frozen food you buy) but our ice cream was definitely quite soft by the time we reached home (an hour later). 

As for the rest of the store, the place was a veritable Aladdin's cave. There was so much packed into the space, that I found it difficult to scan the shelves for things that I could have. Funnily enough, having yearned to be able to pick my goodies from the same shelves as everyone else, I found myself wishing for a 'Free From' section, so I could highlight the stuff that was relevant for me! 

Couldn't see this at Whole Foods Market - what a shame!

Unless I was missing something, the chocolate section was sadly lacking. Whereas Booja Booja was well represented, Moo Free seemed to be merely represented by a few of their chocolate bars - there were none of the yummy Organica vegan (but may contain traces of milk) chocolate bars that I used to be able to get in the health food shop near my old home. However, Lucy's egg, gluten, nut and dairy free chocolate chip cookies were a great find! They're sooo moreish!

My selection of goodies made (apart from the cold stuff) the only thing left to try was the cafe.

This proved to be tougher than I thought. There was a disclaimer concerning allergies, so if you're really sensitive or coeliac, you'd probably want to give it a miss. More of a concern for me personally, was whether I would be able to tempt the ever-fussy Baby into eating anything at all.

She wasn't interested in the roast potatoes, or the salmon that I had selected - they had 'bits' on them. I knew the green beans were also going to be a no-no for her, but I selected those, purely for my benefit. Baby did eat some of The Hub's turkey slices, but apart from her share of a slice of a rather yummy vegan raw chocolate dessert, by inspiral, called 'Blackout Tart', that was it, as far as she was concerned. 

Impressive! Blackout - a yummy vegan dessert that is gluten, dairy, egg and soya free. Not nut free though!

Mind you, I couldn't blame her. The potatoes (meant to be hot) were lukewarm and the meat, fish and veg were all from the cold food section - definitely not a winner for her. She did love looking out of the window though - I must say, it was good fun people watching!

I was rather tempted by some of the other hot dishes and was interested to spot that you could buy food to take away, but Baby was never going to let me hang around for too long and so soon we duly departed.

Altogether, it was an interesting visit. I probably wouldn't eat in again - not with Baby anyway. We ended up buying her fries from Kentucky Fried Chicken across the road (you add your own salt - marginally healthier than the very salty fries you get from Mc Donald's) As for the shop, I would definitely go again, for the variety of food stuff you can buy. There's still some things that I've yet to try!!

By the way, the shop is sooo close to the station at Clapham Junction, that if you find yourself making a train connection there at any time (and aren't carting around ridiculous amounts of luggage with you) it would be a shame not to pop in. I've already got The Hub working out how he could pop in there on the way home from work sometime and I didn't even have to ask :)