Ottawa must help people with celiac disease

Melissa Secord hopes the budget offers some relief for those with special diets.

Picture a Canadian city, almost the size of Halifax, where everyone needs special food to survive. But the price of that food is so expensive that many people opt to skip meals or take risks with foods which might be harmful to them or their children.

That's the reality of life for many of the estimated 400,000 Canadians with celiac disease.

Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects at least one-in-100 people.

When a person with celiac disease eats gluten (a group of proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and hybrid grains), the body attacks itself and damages the small intestinal tract. This impedes the ability to absorb nutrients, leading to a wide range of symptoms and complications such as gastrointestinal issues, anemia, chronic fatigue, bone and joint pain, easy bruising of the skin, muscle cramps, migraine headaches, depression, osteoporosis, infertility, cancers, and even early death.

Currently, the only known treatment for celiac disease is a strict gluten-free diet, for life.

For people with celiac disease, a gluten-free diet isn't a lifestyle choice, it's a medical necessity. Gluten-free food is their medicine; it stops them from getting sick from simply eating a meal.

In Canadian grocery stores, gluten is everywhere: in foods such as breads and other baked goods, cereals, crackers, pasta, soups, sauces, dressings, processed foods, desserts and some nutritional supplements.

Fortunately, some food companies have been willing to invest in technology, special facilities and dedicated supply chains in order to produce gluten-free food. However, the cost of producing these foods is much higher — which means Canadians with celiac disease pay substantially higher prices for the foods that are essential to their health.

How much more costly is gluten-free food? Gluten-free products range from 74 per cent to 300 per cent more expensive than their gluten-containing counterparts.

In major cities, that $1.99 package of regular pasta costs $5 gluten-free. A standard loaf of bread runs around

$3; gluten-free breads are more like $8. Frozen pizza at $6 is double the price if gluten-free. Prices tend to be even higher in smaller centres.

It's estimated that, on average, a Canadian family of four with one or more celiacs following a gluten-free diet will spend $4,000 more on food annually than will families unaffected by celiac disease. People facing food insecurity and attempting to live on fixed incomes are particularly vulnerable.

We have all felt the pinch of rapidly rising grocery prices over the past couple of years. But it has been more than twice as costly for Canadians with celiac disease to buy medically necessary food.

That's why we're calling on the federal government to act in the 2024 budget and offer help for families touched by celiac disease.

Specifically, Canadians with celiac disease need a flat-rate, annual refundable federal income tax credit of at least $1,000 per adult and $600 per child to provide true financial relief of the cost burden of the gluten-free diet.

The refund should replace the current non-refundable credit for Canadians with celiac disease.

It's a red tape nightmare that provides minimal tax savings, often in the $30 range.

Worse still, it isn't even available to the most vulnerable: those living on disability insurance payments or workers' compensation, and low-income individuals such as college students and minimum-wage workers.

So many Canadians are struggling to put food on their tables. Too many with celiac disease are faced with difficult — and potentially harmful — choices in this era of skyrocketing food prices. They need our help. Some simple changes in this federal budget could deliver significant relief.

Melissa Secord is the national executive director of Celiac Canada.