Think your grocery bill is high? Try eating gluten-free
When Ashley Hickey’s seven-year-old son Alex was diagnosed with celiac disease last month, she knew she had to revamp the entire family’s diet to become a gluten-free household.
Celiac is a genetic autoimmune disease that causes people to get sick when they consume wheat, rye or barley.
Having celiac herself, Hickey is familiar with the risk of cross-contamination and the extra cost of specialty ingredients. But when the Amherst, N.S., woman crunched the numbers from her grocery bills during the month of June, even she was shocked by the total of $2,600.
“I actually said to my husband, wow, I can’t believe how expensive this is. I didn’t realize my grocery bill was that bad. And I said we need to get a rice flour farm or something because this is insane,” said Hickey.
She said those expenses didn’t include drinks, treats, toiletries or restaurants — it was just the basic food budget.
To better understand what some have to shell out at a grocery store chain to buy gluten free, the CBC’s Angela MacIvor joins Heather Yule who — along with her two children — has celiac disease. They compare the cost of seven common groceries and their gluten-free equivalents.
According to Celiac Canada, gluten-free products cost 200 to 500 per cent more than food with gluten. Executive director Melissa Secord said gluten-free products have traditionally cost about 150 per cent more but supply issues during the pandemic widened the price gap.
“There are certain standards that manufacturers have to follow to keep it safe as well as the ingredients themselves because of the complexity, so they’re more expensive,” she said.
Heather Yule of Bedford, N.S., has celiac, as do her two teenage daughters.
“It’s not like we’re doing this for a fad,” she said. “It is like having a prescription drug. Our prescription is gluten-free food. How come we don’t get better cost savings for that? Because it adds up.”
Hickey agrees. Although she tries to make everything from scratch and buys in bulk, she is working 70 to 80 hours a week running her software company to offset the high cost of food.
In addition, she inputs every gluten-free item she purchases into a spreadsheet for an annual tax refund.
“Not only am I spending all this time making these mixes, shopping, researching, finding products, I then have to play secretary at night every time I go to the grocery store and log what I’ve bought in a spreadsheet,” she said.
“I would love to see — as it is in other countries — celiac disease be classified as a disability and eligible for the Canadian disability tax credit to give us all a little bit more money back in our wallets every month.”
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