Glutens for punishment!
From gluten-free toilet cleaner to gluten-free dating sites, why does EVERYONE seem to be leaping on to the anti-wheat bandwagon?
IT STARTED as a few niche but crucial products for sufferers of a genuine medical condition.
But now the market for glutenfree products has mushroomed spectacularly into an industry worth hundreds of millions of pounds in Britain alone – spawning an increasingly absurd range of products as manufacturers and supermarkets rush to cash in.
While the idea of special ‘glutenfree’ water and toilet cleaner might seem preposterous, shoppers are increasingly turning to such items in the belief they are following a more healthy lifestyle.
But even when it comes to food, nutrition experts warn that glutenfree groceries can often be less healthy than their regular counterparts. ‘Most gluten-free products have more fat and sugar to help create the texture that is lost when gluten is excluded,’ warns Ian Marber, founder of The Food Doctor.
Around one in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, in which the gluten proteins found in wheat and other cereals causes damage to the lining of the small intestine.
But many people who have not been diagnosed believe such proteins to be generally bad for them, thanks to champions of gluten-free diets such as Rachel Weisz and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Marber says: ‘Claims that gluten causes irritation of the gut in noncoeliacs are unsupported by longterm research.’
Nonetheless sales of gluten and wheat- free food reached almost £300 million last year – 44 per cent up on 2015. Items now labelled as such include:
Blk Water claims in its marketing material to be ‘ gluten- free’. There is no gluten in water;
Pet Munchies that do not contain wheat, gluten, cereals or soya;
Seventh Generation gluten-free toilet cleaner, which is more than four times as expensive as ownbrand product at Tesco;
The dating website Gluten Free Singles.
Other products include hair wax, lipstick, toothpaste, shampoos, body washes and lotions.
‘A lot of people are jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon,’ said nutri- tionist Rick Hay. ‘Gluten-free products are often more expensive and many people who do not need to avoid gluten do so because they have diagnosed themselves as having a problem, when they don’t.
‘Most people are not coeliac or suffering gluten intolerances. And even if someone is coeliac, there is no reason to avoid products that will not be ingested. Household items such as loo cleaner are not going to cause a problem.’
Indeed, the charity Coeliac UK makes no recommendation that sufferers use only gluten- free products on the face or body. But Simon Duffy, founder of men’s skin- care brand Bulldog, which makes gluten-free products, said shoppers were sceptical about that advice. He said: ‘There’s a lot of conflicting views on gluten, which can understandably make our customers question this. Consumers are more aware of the impact of certain allergies and food intolerances.’
Last year, a report found supermarkets marked up products by up to 300 per cent if they had a ‘gluten free’ label – even if the regular item already contained no gluten.